why does it matter? an Autonumber is meant to physically identify records to
the *system*, it should not be exposed to the user, or have meaning to the
user. if you're wanting to assign consecutive number to records that are
meaningful to the user, recommend you do it programmatically - not with
Autonumber.
having said that, Autonumber normally resets when the database is compacted.
it's also possible to run an Append query to add a record to the table with
a specified number in the Autonumber field - 1 less than the number you're
after - and records added after that should build on that "forced" number.
again, keep in mind that an Autonumber does not and cannot guarantee
consecutive number assignment.
hth