1.   Bidding begins either later this year or early next year.

2.   This price is available only before bidding begins.

3.   Bidding will begin in mid-March.

4.   Hundreds of people packed the hall as bidding began and hundreds more followed the auction from TV monitors in a gallery and the museum lobby.

5.   The News did not say when bidding began, and bank and government officials could not be reached for comment.