[hasenj]

I think he's wrong on the R1C1 mode. At least in the latest version of excel on mac, you can observe this behavior:

1) In cell A, reference cell B

2) Cut (not copy) cell C and paste it over cell B

3) Observe cell A throwing a #REF! error

To be concrete, type 10 in cell A1, then type `=A1` into cell A2. A2 now shows 10. Now click cell B1, cmd-x to cut, then move the cursor to A1, cmd-v to paste. Now cell A1 is empty and cell A2 shows #REF!

This will not change if you use the R1C1 mode.

So internally it's neither R1C1 nor is it A1. Internally it's a reference to the cell object directly.

[MOARDONGZPLZ]

I just tried this. In "baby mode" it does what you say. In R1C1 mode, A2 becomes 0 when the blank cell B1 is cut/pasted to A1. So in my experience (Windows 10, Excel 2016), R1C1 references the cell, not the object, whereas baby mode references the object.