SOLD
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This item SOLD at 2012 Dec 08 @ 14:27UTC-8 : PST/AKDT
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IMPORTANT NOTE ON BUYERS PREMIUMS:
Lot 100 to 343 have a premium of 15%.
The rest of the sale is 19.5% as noted in the listing.
Lot Pick Up: Holabird-Kagin Americana,
3555 Airway Drive Ste #309,
Reno NV 89511,
Sunday - December 9, 10am-4pm
Finest known example. No tampering with the nugget evident. Copper nugget plated in gold.
The Sealey, Latouche, Alaska Gold Nugget Token
Charles E. Sealey – Latouche, AK
By Fred N. Holabird
Introduction
The Latouche gold nugget token bearing Charles Sealey’s name token is considered one of the great western monetary pieces from the Alaska gold rush. It is the very essence of why people collect pioneer minor coinage – the history behind the coin opens up new doors to learning about our past in exciting ways. In researching the Latouche piece, semi-obscure aspects of the Alaska gold rush came to light: prospecting on a remote Alaskan island, natural multiple-metal nuggets, lives of prospectors and merchants in an evolving mining scene and how prospecting for gold can lead to the production of other metals. It also focuses on a great Alaska gold rush promotion, the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition (AYPE) held in Seattle in 1909.
Background
There are several gold nugget tokens, and this is one of the three great gold nugget token rarities, the others from Everett, Washington made during the Alaska Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909; and the third from Gustave Priesner of McCarthy, Alaska. Regardless, there are less than six different nugget tokens known, and all relate directly to the Alaska gold mining business in the poet-1900 era. Both the Everett, Washington and the Latouche pieces are made with nearly identical “gold pan” planchets, unique to these two nugget tokens. Each appears to date from the 1909 period.
The nuggets adhered to the Latouche tokens are of very special significance. They come from Latouche Island in Prince William Sound, located south west of Valdez. The community of Latouche no longer exists, but it was on the northern end of a small island (12 miles long, 3 miles wide) at the western entrance to Prince William Sound.?The mines were all at the northern end of the island. Latouche Island is located along the waterway route to Valdez, and as such, was a perfect target for prospectors on the way to the goldfields. The nineteenth century mining history of the region is difficult to unravel, but prospectors logically panned for gold first, and after discovering metals, including copper, generally looked upstream for the lode deposits. This is how the Latouche copper deposit was discovered.
Latouche Mining Discoveries
Native Alaskan Mining at Latouche
Before research began for this paper, all the professional mining and historical references indicated the initial discoveries on Latouche Island were from 1897 with the advent of, and contemporaneous to the Klondike/Alaska gold rush. However, well known Nevada mining engineer and geologist Francis Church Lincoln published a paper in a relatively new publication unknown to most researchers, Economic Geology in which
new information was revealed but was left out by subsequent writers. In the April, 1909
issue, in just the fourth year of the prestigious journal’s existence, Lincoln received permission from mining engineers Ricketts and Banks to publish a detailed paper on the “Big Bonanza Copper Mine” on Latouche Island. Pierre Ricketts and John Banks had authored
a very private paper as consultants for the Guggenheim interests (Kennecott).
In that paper, Lincoln discussed native copper stone hammers found at the base of the cliff that held the Bonanza Mine discovery. The hammers were notched for the addition of handles, but no handles were found, presumably because wood handles would completely rot within just a few years in the harsh Alaska environment. No other artifacts were reported from the site. While no attempts at dating the hammers was done at the time, it is unknown if future archaeologists ever were successful in dating the original site. The only hint at all about early cultures locally indicates that a smallpox epidemic “swept through Native Alaska” in 1837, reportedly wiping out entire villages. The fact that the early Russian settlers did not learn of this important site is of significance.
Klondike/Alaska Mining Gold Rush
Prospecting for gold and copper appears to have begun with the Klondike/Alaska gold rush in 1897. The first of the copper discoveries appears to have been in the Copper River area southeast of Valdez, and east of Cordova on the eastern side of Prince William Sound. There were many earlier formal expeditions and exploration efforts, mostly looking for a water passage into Alaska’s interior. Gold had also been discovered much earlier in Alaska, but the conditions were too severe to spawn a gold rush, and it wasn’t until the mid 1890’s that serious amounts of gold were mined, creating the Klondike/Alaska gold rush. The Copper River mines, discovered in 1898, were a major copper producer and were purchased and operated by the Kennecott Corporation under control by the Morgan-Guggenheim group. The Copper River Railroad was built to access the copper mines and coal mines further into the interior.
The Latouche Discovery
The Latouche discoveries, though, were among the very first. Mining claims were staked at the Bonanza mine on July 7, 1897 by Andrew K. Beatson, M. D. Gladhaugh, W. Ripstein, W. B. Heidorn, P. Jackson and W. B. Hunt. The men had been led to the site by local native Alaskans who had used chalcocite and chalcopyrite from the copper
deposits to make black paint which they used to paint their canoe paddles black.
Gladhaugh was particularly keen to find the spot since he had discovered the Gladhaugh
mine at Ellamar earlier that year. The Gladhaugh mine went on to become another of the very important copper producing mines in Alaska. Mining claims locating gold, silver and copper soon followed the Beatson et al discoveries. The Bonanza-Beatson mine carried primary and secondary ores of copper. Chalcopyrite and associated sulfide minerals such as galena carried gold and silver respectively, and were the source of minor gold/silver/copper placer deposits on Latouche Island. Once the metal placers were located (discovered), lode discoveries followed. All three metals were actively prospected and mined over the first two decades of the twentieth century on Latouche Island.
The Bonanza (later renamed Beatson about 1910) copper mine was located near the northwest end of the island and began operating regularly in 1904, though their first shipment was in November, 1899. By 1906 they were shipping up to 1000 tons a month to a smelter in Tacoma. The ores were special for this part of the world, and in this respect, make the tokens extra special, because they carry the uniqueness of the ore deposits of the island – original native copper in nugget form, with gold and silver added to represent the other two metals found on the island.
Latouche Ore Deposits
The placer gold mines and prospects of Latouche were the result of contact type ore deposits between greenstone and greywacke, interlayered with shale and limestone. These contact zones were filled with quartz, carrying chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite and pyrite, with occasional reported galena. The early geologic reports published by the USGS all show the strong presence of gold and silver in the ores. Weed (The Copper Mines of the World, 1907) reported 8% copper and one ounce per ton silver in 1907 at the Bonanza, and the presence of galena at other mines and prospects nearby.
Chalcopyrite is a major ore of copper. It carries gold and silver in varying amounts, along with other metals occasionally. In rare and unusual circumstances, native gold nuggets can carry enough silver and copper that these metals become visible to the naked eye. One form of this is also known as electrum. This is a form of natural parting of the metals, and can often be seen in ingots, particularly silver ingots, where gold can be naturally parted when it is in high concentration.
The nuggets of the streams coming from the ore sources on Latouche Island were probably all mined early in the local mining history. That placer mining undoubtedly gave way to the mining of the chalcopyrite deposits, which became more successful through time. The known fact that they carried copper, gold and silver is significant, as the nuggets on the Latouche tokens all appear to have the three metals represented. This renders them unique.
The Bonanza Mine
The Bonanza Mine was originally staked July 7, 1897 by A. K. Beatson et al as discussed earlier. It was later renamed in his honor. The Bonanza was so rich that it came to the attention of the Morgan-Guggenheim group (J. P. Morgan and Meyer Guggenheim and sons), who controlled the Copper River copper mines. Beatson reportedly sold control of the mine to “a New York capitalist” in the spring of 1900. This was probably in the form of a lease-option to the Guggenheims, J. P. Morgan, or their agent. The reported address for the managing company was 10 Wall Street in New York, a building full of lawyers located in the heart of America’s financial district. By 1902 the owners had incorporated the Latouche Mining Company in New Jersey as a privately held financial vehicle (closed corporation) for the Bonanza Mine, and retained Beatson as the manager. Beatson continued to manage the property through at least 1907, and that year the Guggenheims considered outright purchase of the property by conversion of the purchase option. In so doing, they hired Ricketts and Banks for the property appraisal, which probably came out very positively, because the Guggenheims then spent the next two years perfecting the purchase agreement and corporate structure before reporting anything to the world.
It was reported in 1908 in the Copper Handbook, the quintessential mining stock marguide published annually, that the letters from the Handbook requesting current information from the Latouche Mining Company were “returned unclaimed” from the Latouche Mining Company’s Wall Street office. This would usually cause serious concern, but Stevens had reported earlier in 1903 that “Beatson’s reputation in Alaska is that of an honest man.” Nonetheless, it would have been of concern to any investor in copper mines. 1907-1908 marked a period of national financial panic brought about by unsound mining promotion that affected all mining companies. In this case, however, the Guggenheims were keeping “quiet” while their purchase was being perfected (completed.) In 1910, Stevens reported that the Latouche Mining Company “once held the Beatson Bonanza mine but lost same.” This was completely incorrect, and the Guggenheims and Kennecott remained publicly quiet while continuing production. Instead, what really happened was the formation of a new privately held corporation, the Beatson Copper Company. Under Stevens’ write up, he described the mine as held “through stock ownership by the Guggenheim interests.” The president was Stephen Birch, also the General Manager for Kennecott’s Alaska properties at Copper River. Thus the Beatson Copper Company was a privately held corporation managed by Kennecott and owned by the Guggenheims. This was a perfect start for a major copper mine. It was also the beginning of a vision of the Guggenheims to control mining in Alaska. In a biography of the Guggenheims, author Edwin Hoyt Jr. put it succinctly:
In 1906 when (mining engineer) John Hays Hammond had gone to the Yukon with Daniel (Guggenheim) to look over the properties, they began to think in terms of Alaska and its potential…The lure was first copper. Then it became All Alaska... Daniel’s dream of 1906 then led to what the wags and cynics of Wall Street called ‘the Second Purchase of Alaska.’
The Guggenheim group controlled the smelters in Washington where the Alaska copper was received, and later in Alaska. The Tacoma smelter was managed by ASARCO, another of the Guggenheim companies. The Mining and Engineering Journal regularly reported on copper shipments from Latouche to the Tacoma smelter. The Morgan-Guggenheim Group also controlled the massive copper deposits at Bingham, Utah, but control of these two states’ copper production in 1908 was trifling compared to the massive production of copper in Arizona, Montana and Michigan, each of which was more than three times the then Alaska and Utah production combined. This quickly changed though. By 1915 copper production in Alaska and Utah combined were at a level a little above all of Montana’s production. During its lifetime, the Bonanza produced a reported 182 million pounds of copper, 1.5 million ounces of silver and 484 ounces of gold. The Guggenheim’s gamble paid off.
The mine was in full swing when WWI began, which caused a huge increase in demand for copper. Its production peaked around 1917. That year there was a major labor strike at the mine, though it was resolved quickly. During this time there were about 300 people working at the Beatson (Bonanza), and most of the population of the island, which reportedly was around 4,000, was living near the mine.
The rich copper ores from the Beatson (Bonanza) caused significant prospecting on the island, and resulted in many discoveries. By 1911 there were more than a dozen mines in production, though the Beatson remained the largest producer. Many of the lesser producing copper mines in Alaska closed shortly after the war ended when the price of copper dropped. The Beatson remained competitive, however, because of the installation of a floatation mill in 1916. The Beatson remained in production into the mid 1930’s, though it was the lone “important” producing mine on Latouche after about 1920.
Charles Sealey, Alaska Miner and Businessman
Charles E. Sealey was born in January 1866 in Canada to parents born in New York. They may have been timber men in Ontario. Sealey joined the Klondike gold rush in 1897. His name does not appear in the 1900 census, typical of many of the miners in the Alaska-Klondike gold regions for the period. By 1909 Sealey had moved to Valdez, and called himself a “copper miner”, according to census and directory records. In 1910 he was 43 years of age and still single and unmarried. Sealey is not separately listed in the 1910 Bradstreet. Such a listing is significant, because it tells the reader that Sealey may have come to Valdez from Latouche, which was an important nearby copper district.
By 1915 in Valdez, Sealey owned the Pinzon Cigar Company (sometimes called the Pinzon Liquor Company) and was president of the Sealey-Davis Mining Co. as shown in the 1915-16 Polk Alaska Directory. While this sounds impressive, it really is not. The Sealey-Davis MC is not listed in any of Weed’s Mines Handbooks and a separate publication, Obsolete Securities, for the period 1915-1920 as an active mining company or as an obsolete mining company. Further, he is not listed as a director, president, manager or superintendant of any mine. The conclusion from this is obvious: that Sealey had a prospect and the beginnings of a “mining company”, but it never got off the ground past the prospect stage.
The Pinzon Cigar and/or Liquor Company was a business jointly owned by Richard J. Gelineau and Sealey. It appears to have been a normal western saloon, selling liquor and cigars with a good stock of billiard tables for play. Gelineau was about the same age as Sealey, divorced, and was an old hand at businesses in Valdez. He was there running a restaurant at least as early as March, 1901 known as “Dick’s Grill Room.” Gelinaeu was also absent from Valdez in 1908-9, according to local directories. There is a chance he was prospecting, perhaps gaining a friendship with Sealey in the Latouche region.
Once there, the pair probably met Beatson, and possibly bought supplies from him at his Latouche general store.
The Latouche General Store
There were two general stores in Latouche. The main store was owned and operated by the Latouche Copper Company (owner and operator of the Bonanza Copper Mine), its successor the Beatson Copper Company, and later Kennecott. The town was generally a company town. The Bonanza, or Beatson mine as it was invariably called, was the largest employer by far, with 40 to 100 men working there about 1909 by differing accounts. The financial panic of 1907-1908 however, left just two active mines open in 1909, and the Bonanza still accounted for most of the production and employment. The town had developed into a normal mining camp with a few stores, saloons, a post office and other businesses. The two general stores, one owned by the Bonanza mine interests and the other a competitive effort, were the only source of provisions to miners. In 1910, the Bradstreet Commercial Ratings publication listed A. K. Beatson as the manager of the Bonanza mine store and Irving Kimball as the manager of the competition. Since Beatson was still the manager of the mine in 1908, but was not the main mine manager in 1910 (Kennecott’s man Seagrave was reported as the manager of the Bonanza in later 1910,) it is unknown if he continued there in any capacity. It is more likely that Bradstreet listed him as manager of the store because he was the manager of the Company. It is more likely that there was a separate manager in 1909, which may have been Charles Sealey. We know that the copper price crash of 1908 subsequent to the financial panic of 1907-8 caused a mass exodus from Latouche, such that there were only two mines in production in 1909. If Sealey had been manager of the store, he may have left at that time. Another possibility exists that he was hired to promote the mine and store at the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition in Seattle in 1909.
After the Bonanza mine began producing rich ores, Beatson sold out to the Guggenheims in 1907. After cash was in hand, Beatson probably sold his store as part of the mine sale and retired to Los Angeles, where he died in 1914. Did Sealey buy the store in 1908-1909? Did he operate it for a short time, and then lease it to another operator, as was typical in Nevada and California mining regions? These and other important questions cannot be answered without further research, particularly if county or regional deed and tax records still exist for the Latouche Island region.
A colorful, yet sad story of the competing general stores in Latouche at the time is related in the History of Prince William Sound:
Anchorage pioneer Decema Kimball Andreson tells of her memories of growing up at Latouche where her family owned a grocery store. In July, 1913, her mother woke her after midnight when a fire started in a nearby saloon. Hurriedly, they tried to save a storeroom full of furs purchased from the natives at Chenega; but soon the building was ablaze… The next morning, her father asked the miners why no one came to help: “the men told him the bosses would not let them come to our aid, as our store was in competition with their commisary.”
By the time the 1920 Census was taken, Sealey, then 53 years old, was managing a boarding house in Valdez.
Polk’s 1923 Alaska and Yukon Directory shows Sealey and Gelineau running a general merchandise business in Latouche in 1923. The Latouche token shows only Sealey’s name, indicating sole proprietorship. The question arises whether Sealey had acquired the store long before this when he first spent time at Latouche, or if this was a business born of his later life.
Sealey apparently died within the 1920 decade.
The Latouche Gold Nugget Coin (token)
This remarkable Latouche coin may date from an early period of the Latouche mining camp after ownership of the Bonanza (Beatson) Mine was transferred to Guggenheim interests and production was boosted to commercial levels. The increased production brought in many miners and laborers into Latouche.
Little is known of the development of the town itself, but it may have begun about the time the Bonanza mine began shipping ore, c1905. The 1908 Pacific Mercantile Directory inclusive of Alaska mentioned the town, and that it had 40 residents, but listed no businesses nor specified the residents, probably because of the remote location of the mining camp. The 1910 Bradstreet Commercial Business Ratings listing for January, 1910 showed only a few businesses, two general stores and one saloon. The saloon was run by Charles A. Trecklenberg and the merchandise stores by A. K. Beatson and the other by Irving Kimball. Beatson is not found in the US Census records, possibly confirming his presence on Latouche Island, where it is likely that there was no census canvas.
The style of the token is nearly identical to the William Haferkorn Everett, Washington gold nugget piece. Though the two were apparently made by different die sinkers, they were clearly designed after one another, or by the same person who may have used different manufacturers. The timing of both strongly suggest a direct link to the Alaska Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYPE) in 1909. It was a regional World’s Fair of great importance showing off all of the Alaska industries, especially mining, fisheries and furriers. The theme of gold, particularly utilizing gold nuggets was a big deal, as the fair celebrated “12 years of prosperity since the 1897 Alaska Gold Rush.” The fair got its start on June 1, 1909, and ran for 138 days:
Just moments before 12 noon Pacific Time, President William Howard Taft from the east room of the White House, pressed a telegraph key made of Klondike gold nuggets that sent a signal across the continent to ring a gong at the fairgrounds (thus officially opening the fair.)
The fair was so popular that 79, 976 people paid fifty cents each to get in on the first day alone. The nugget theme was so popular that hundreds of souvenirs made with real and artificial gold nuggets were sold at the fair. Many survive today, particularly breast badges, souvenir spoons and so forth. Both the Haferkorn Everett, Washington and the Latouche coins were made on unique planchets made in the three dimensional shape of a gold pan. The Haferkorn gold nugget piece appears to date to the 1909 period. Haferkorn was probably promoting his cigar business at the AYPE in 1909 with his nugget tokens. No other coins or tokens with the three dimensional gold pan planchet are known today. The Valdez nugget tokens were made and used about 1908. The George Frau “The Fairbanks” (bar), Valdez gold nugget token dates to the period 1908-1911. It thus makes complete sense that the Latouche token is from the 1909 period on a comparative manufacture basis.
The dating of the Latouche piece allows for further interpretation. Sealey may have managed the Bonanza Mine store in 1909, and there is a great possibility that the Bonanza Mine showed off their rich ores and perhaps ingots at the AYPE. A number of other important coins were made and distributed at the AYPE, inclusive of at least three different gold pieces. Also, the copper nuggets on the Latouche coins have been artificially colored with silver and gold, representative of Latouche Island’s three producing metals.
This renders the unmistakable suggestion that the Latouche piece may have been made for the AYPE. These coins could have been for sale at the Exposition for $1 as an advertising piece. The reverse of the Sealey Latouche tokens reads: “Good for one dollar’s worth of anything.” It could have been used to buy supplies at his store. This slogan renders the interpretation that Sealey’s establishment was a general store, not a saloon, cigar store, or otherwise.
Another interesting circumstance is the Sealey-Gelineau partnership which appears to have begun about 1914 coincident with Beatson’s death in Los Angeles. This lends further speculation that Sealey acted as a sole proprietor in his ventures before 1914, since after that date it appears that any business he was involved with was with his partner Gelineau, including when he returned to Latouche about 1922 to 1923 to run the Latouche general store again.
Ronald Benice’s Alaska Tokens (1994) book dates the coin to the 1917 to 1923 period. This differs substantially from the interpretation offered here. Benice also indicates that Sealey founded the Pinzon in 1915. The timing of the store as reported by Benice coincides with a business decline after the largest boom period for Latouche. This information is in direct conflict with census and other historical data. First, according to the 1920 census data, Sealey was running a boarding house in Valdez in 1920. Second, the token is made in a style consistent with the other nugget tokens, which are thought to be exclusively pre-1910. Third, it does not make sense that Sealey, or anyone else, would make a nugget token for a general merchandise store in the last decade of the town’s existence, because the copper mine by then was huge, placer ground all mined out (nowhere to get the copper nuggets), and there was little interest in prospecting for new mines. Fourth, Sealey was in his declining years in the mid-1920s, running a boarding house in Valdez, then moving or retiring to Latouche. Lastly, the Pinzon was simply listed in the 1915 Directory. There is no information that the store or saloon was founded that year. As noted earlier, more research is needed to unravel and solve the puzzles created by the historical data found so far. The reference also lists two different Latouche tokens, which is incorrect. The tokens are all made with a natural copper nugget. Each nugget has a secondary silver color (or plated) coating and a partial gold wash (gold paint). The three metals represented on the nuggets clearly represent the three metals of Latouche Island. Some of the more circulated specimens have all of the silver and gold worn off.
This piece is unusual and highly collectible because of the small nugget mounted in the center of the obverse, the near-unique three dimensional gold pan shape, and the wonderful history of the Bonanza Mine at Latouche. The nugget was intended to appear as a gold nugget, but it is in fact an original piece of the Latouche ore deposits, reflected by the unique placer gold containing silver and copper. According to Alaska pioneer minor coinage experts, there are perhaps five to ten of the Latouche nugget coins known.
*A similar version of this article was published in the Quarterly bulletin of the Token and Medal Society. -62180
Auction Location:
tlantis Casino & Resort, Grand Ballroom#4, 3800 S. Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada, 89502, United States
Previewing Details:
Holabird-Kagin Americana,
3555 Airway Drive Ste #309,
Reno NV 89511,
Friday - December 7, 10am-6pm
Sales tax will apply, according to state law, for any items that ship to Nevada or California or are picked
up at our Reno, Nevada location, unless a current, valid re-sale certificate is provided at the time of
purchase.
Taxes:
| Tax | Rate | Desc. |
| NST |
7.725% |
Nevada Sales Tax: |
| CST |
9% |
California Sales Tax: |
Buyer's Premiums:
| From (Incl.) | To (Excl.) | Premium |
| 0.00 |
Infinite |
19.5% |
Additional Fees:
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IMPORTANT NOTE ON BUYERS PREMIUMS:
Lot 100 to 343 have a premium of 15%.
The rest of the sale is 19.5% as noted in the listing.
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IMPORTANT NOTE ON BUYERS PREMIUMS:
Lot 100 to 343 have a premium of 15%.
The rest of the sale is 19.5% as noted in the listing.
1. This is a Live Auction.
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15. Buyer’s Premium: There will be a 19.5% Buyer’s Premium added to each lot. US coins, nuggets, and bullion are calculated at a 15% buyer’s premium. These premiums include a 3% discount for transactions paid with cash, checks, money orders or wire transfers. All other forms of payment are not subject to the 3% discount and the Buyer’s Premium will be calculated at 22.5% (18% on US coins, gold, & currency.)
16. Sales Tax: Sales tax will apply, according to state law, for any items that ship to Nevada (7.725%) or California (9.0%) unless a current, valid resale certificate is faxed to us at 775-852-8866 before bids are placed.
17. Invoicing: Shipping charges will be added to all invoices. Invoices are mailed or emailed within two business days after the close of all portions of the sale. Within 15 calendar days of receipt of invoice, payment is due in full to Holabird-Kagin Americana, 3555 Airway Dr., #308, Reno, NV 89511. Sales tax will be added to all sales picked-up after the auction or shipped to California or Nevada addresses, according to state law, unless a resale certificate is provided.
18. Payment: We accept Visa, Master Card, Money Order/Cashier’s Check, Personal Check, PayPal: HKAEbayRep@yahoo.com. A 3% discount is applied to the Buyer’s Premium on all sales. That discount will be reversed if payment is made with a credit card or through PayPal. All returned checks are subject to a $25 fee. Cash received in amounts greater than $10,000 is subject to the filing of IRS form 8300, as required by law.
19. Shipping: Shipping will be estimated prior to invoicing, based on the size and weight of your purchase. Additional shipping fees may be invoiced seperately. The buyer is responsible for arranging and paying for shipment of large or special items. A $5 handling fee will be included in the shipping charge. The customer is responsible for all shipping charges. We do not ship any purchases until the auction invoice is paid in full. Purchases will be shipped via our approved, insured carriers: Federal Express or the US Postal Service. All items shipped Federal Express will be insured for the full value determined at auction by Holabird-Kagin Americana at no extra cost to the buyer. Federal Express shipments will be sent the Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday following receipt of payment. Pick up is available from our Reno office the next business day after the auction. NOTE: Some shipments (of unusual size, dimension, or weight) may require special handling for which individual costs will be calculated and applied to the shipping charge on the invoice.
20. Non-Payment: Any lots not paid for within specified time frames will be cancelled. Any bidder who fails to follow the terms of payment may be barred from participating in future Holabird-Kagin Americana auctions, and will not be included on catalog mailing lists.
21. Return Policy: All items are guaranteed to be authentic unless otherwise noted. If authenticity is challenged, please call our office for assistance. You may return any piece that was significantly inaccurately described by calling our office within one week of receipt of item(s) and notifying us of the error and reason for return. We do not refund postage or insurance. We have attempted to describe the items and their condition accurately. If no condition is given, assume average. Please call us if you require a more specific condition report. Any items that are returned must be returned in the exact, unaltered condition. NGC certified tokens that are returned must be original, unaltered NGC holders. Any tokens removed from the original NGC/NCS certification holders or items returned in an altered condition are deemed not returnable under any circumstances. When we receive your bids we will assume you have read the description in the catalog, viewed the image of the item, have contacted us regarding any questions you may have on any lot and/or have previewed the lot in person. Therefore, returns are only accepted if prior approval is given by Holabird-Kagin Americana.
22. This sale is being held under the laws of the states of Nevada and California.
23. Neither Kagin’s, Inc. nor its subsidiary auction company Holabird-Kagin Americana shall be held responsible for any problem due to the bidders failure to follow the rules, terms and conditions of this sale, or any failure to bid due to the loss of the online auction process provided by any of the online auction networks; or missed bids, changed bids or cancelled due the bidders failure to follow the proper bidding procedure outlined herein.
We strongly recommend that you attend the live preview to see lots in their entirety. Conditions are not always noted, and large lots may not be itemized due to catalog restraints. For questions, detailed information, or additional images of any lot please contact our office at 775-852-8822. Bidders are responsible for understanding the condition of items. Condition noted are subjective, and may differ in the opinion of different people or collectors.