Mine is serial numbered between the root and the knob on the top curved portion.

That sounds like an interesting auction where you could get a bargain on a lot of guns. They would NEVER sell them that way here. For one thing, you'll never get the max money out of them. One guy might want a certain gun on a table but not the others and so on with other fellows but none are likely to calculate the value of the whole table and spend that much just to get the one they want. Did this auction occur in an area where guns are not a big part of the local culture?