Definition of "public sale" []

• An auction of property or merchandise. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The first step toward loan financing was taken in October 1776, when Congress established a Continental Loan Office that would offer for public sale five million dollars in certificates bearing 4 percent interest."