RENO, NEV.- Holabird Western Americana Collections has planned a sale “to die for” that spans five days – from December 5th thru the 9th – featuring a massive offering of token dies (hence the name) from the Northwest Territorial Mint Liquidation, plus other items in a wide array of collecting categories, a staggering 3,500 lots in all, at 8 am Pacific time all five days.
The auction will be held online and in Holabird’s gallery located at 3555 Airway Drive (Suite 308) in Reno. For those unable to attend the sale in person, online bidding will be facilitated by iCollector.com and Invaluable.com. “This is the second sale in what promises to be an exciting fall and winter season for us,” said Fred Holabird of Holabird Western Americana Collections.
In addition to the token dies, the auction will also feature more of the Ken Prag American stock certificate collection, with categories such as railroads, mining and imprinted revenue stamps; a Texas token collection; the Joe Elcano Nevada History Collection; the Ben-Tchahvtchavadze Collection (Native Americana, rugs, weavings and art); and the Daniel Manassillian Collection.
Day 1, on Wednesday, December 5th, will be packed with minerals, vintage and antique bottles, tokens from Alabama to Oregon, and a wide selection of numismatics, to include banks, books, catalogs, coins, counterfeit directories, currency, medals, scales and “so-called” dollars – a total of 582 lots for the day. In the mix will also be 67 lots of tantalizing bargains and dealer specials.
An expected top lot on Day 1 is a circa 1873-1881 Phil Caduc Napa Soda Botte (Sacramento, Calif.) mineral water bottle, seven inches tall (est. $1,000-$1,200). The blob top bottle has a very deep teal green color, an extremely rare color variant and one of fewer than five known in good condition. The bottle, one of four Phil Caducs in the sale, is clean, shiny and in like-new shape.
Other star lots of Day 1 will include a collection of turquoise specimens from the Pilot Mountain Turquoise Mine in western Nevada, in a vast array of colors and quality, plus some spiderweb stones (est. $400-$1,000); and a Columbia Club (Pioneer, Nevada) token (“Good for 12 ½ cents in Trade”), round in shape and 21 mm across, in almost uncirculated condition (est. $300-$500).
Day 2, Thursday, December 6th, will contain 663 lots of tokens (from Texas on) and dies. One lot worthy of mention is the group of about 49 5-point star dies hubs from the Northwest Territorial Mint Historical Token Die Collection, circa 1903-1950. The group should sell for $500-$1,000.
Day 3, on Friday, December 7th, will be a collector’s field day, bursting with 654 lots of general Americana, militaria, political items, postal history items, Wells Fargo & Express memorabilia, cowboy collectibles, firearms, weaponry, saloon, gaming and lots pertaining to Alaska mining.
The general Americana is a virtual entire category unto itself, with autographs, badges, checks, circus memorabilia, firemen collectibles, music items, navigation material, automobilia, outlaw and lawman memorabilia, silverware and flatware, World’s Fair & Expos collectibles and more.
The headliner of Day 3, in terms of high pre-sale estimate, is a completely restored 1929 DeSoto Model K Roadster “Espanol” with double side mounts and trunk (est. $25,000-$30,000). The car, shown at the National DeSoto Club convention in Reno in 2011, has been garaged and covered for the past 31 years and features Chrysler disc brakes, which later became an industry standard.
Also sold on Day 3 will be a unique shaving mug from one of the West’s most famous sheriffs – Seth Bullock of Deadwood, S.D. – porcelain, with the body showing Bullock’s worn gilt name (est. $2,000-$5,000); and an archive pertaining to Bill Pettite, the Reno judge, writer, historian and boxing aficionado, comprising five notebooks and over 1,000 pieces (est. $2,000-$4,000).
Other Day 3 offerings will include a spectacular Seven Troughs (Nev.) hotel brass key tag for room 16, with a postage return insignia on the bottom and superb patina (est. $1,200-$2,500); and a hand-colored 1746 map of the Americas, written entirely in Latin and rendered by August Gottlieb Boehemius, with ‘Quivera’ written about where Comstock is today (est. $1,000-$2,500).
Day 4, on Saturday, December 8th, will be jam-packed with 746 lots of mining material, to include artifacts, books, explosives, spoons and geographic sort from Arizona on. One of the top lots is a stock certificate #949, from The Gold Mining Company (Muni Mountain District, Ariz.), dated 1895 for 75 shares, signed by the company president and secretary (est. $4,000-$7,000).
Also sold on Day 4 will be an original three-page handwritten letter from a California Gold Rush miner, Benjamin P. Dunning, datelined Panama, to his mother in Maine, dated Dec. 21, 1851, in which he tells of his travels and travails (est. $1,000-$1,500); and a choice old wood ore car from a mine in Utah, 3 feet long by 2 feet wide, showing character and eye appeal (est. $800-$1,700).
Day 5, on Sunday, December 9th, will feature 752 lots of textiles, Native Americana, jewelry and watches, entertainment industry items, furnishings, sculptures, art, railroadiana (to include passes and other items) and imprinted revenue stamps. A Pacific Rail Road (Sacramento, Calif.) bond #446 for $500, issued in 1863, with redemption coupons attached, should realize $500-$1,500.
Top lots of the day figure to be a Frederic Remington bronze titled Coming Through the Rye, one of Remington’s all-time classic sculptures, 20 inches tall, #22 of 100 (est. $4,000-$6,000); and an early 20th century half-round early casting from a wood original of what may be an aftcastle for a clipper ship, the Lady Liberty, correlating to the California Gold Rush (est. $3,000-$5,000).
