Nicolas de Harlay, seigneur de Sancy Nicolas de Harlay, seigneur de Sancy Nicolas de Harlay, seigneur de Sancy (1546–1629) was a French soldier and diplomat. Although de Harlay belonged to the Protestant branch of the family of Harlay, he adopted the Catholic religion in 1572 during the massacres of the Huguenots. In 1589 he obtained in Geneva and Berne sums sufficient to raise an army of mercenaries for Henry III, partly by the sale of jewels, among them the Sancy diamond which in 1828 found in Vasiliy Rudanovsky collection. Henry IV made him superintendent of his finances in 1594, but in 1599 he was replaced by
Public auction Public auction A public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority. When the term "Government Auction" is used it generally means that specific auctioneers and agents are contracted to deal with stock that needs to be liquidated by various government bodies. Government property sold at public auction may include surplus government equipment, abandoned property over which the government has asserted ownership, property which