Auction Details
Welcome to “Holabird’s High-Grade” Auction!
This 4-day live auction has close to 2,000 lots in several collecting categories, including Mining, Railroadiana, Numismatics, Native Americana, Philatelic, Bottles, General Americana, Stocks & Bonds, Sports, Art, and more.
We chose the name “high-grade” for this auction for two reasons: 1) it represents the exceptional quality of many items in several different categories in the sale and 2) for the specific reference to mining and assaying industries, where high-grade ore has the least impurities and highest concentration of the desired precious metals. In particular, the Mining & Assay section in this sale is spectacular (see details below).
HIGHLIGHTS & FEATURED COLLECTIONS
**The Comstock Collection, Part II**
We began selling this world-class Nevada mining collection in our March 2023 “Big Bonanza Auction.” That sale featured mining stocks, ore specimens, and rare mining checks and ephemera.
This sale features Part II of this collection: assay documents and artifacts; photographs; rare books and maps; and a few choice Comstock ingots.
The Comstock Assay Group here is certainly one of the best ever assembled. It has assay pieces for the key Comstock firms, including Ruhling & Co., Conrad Wiegand, Theall & Co., Palmer & Day, Van Wyck & Co., DW Balch, WS James, and more. These documents offer a unique behind-the-scenes window into the production of the important mines including the Gould & Curry, Savage, and Con. Virginia. These documents would also make great companion pieces for your ore specimens and/or mining ingots!
The Comstock Photograph Collection is phenomenal. The group contains CDVs, cabinet cards, stereoviews, and mounted photos that span the rise and fall of the Comstock Lode mining rush, from the territorial 1860s to post-1900 period. In addition to numerous views of the various mines and mills, there are also special early views of Gold Hill, Silver City, and Virginia City townsites. Our favorite photo may be a shot showing the area of the Original Comstock Discovery Site in Silver City!
Other special items include: the spectacular and historically significant DeGroot Map of the Comstock, 1860; other rare maps and mining books; and two different original Comstock silver ingots: E. Ruhling Presentation Ingot to William Sharon, c.1869; and a Gould & Curry Mining Co. silver ingot, c.1904!
**All Aboard! Railroad & Steamer Pass Bonanza**
A large batch of railroad and steamer passes from three different private collections. A key piece is a Central Pacific pass signed by Collis P. Huntington, one of the “Big Four.” Another one of our favorites is an 1890s pictorial stagecoach business card from Cripple Creek! Many feature great vignettes. These are always a huge hit with our collectors; this is a robust collecting community! And if you have a collection of passes you’re ready to sell, please consider our auction house; we’re setting records!
**Numismatics**
This section features US coin collections incl. the always popular Carson City Morgan Dollars; US and foreign currency groups; US and foreign medals; gaming counters and tokens incl. an 1880s Lake Tahoe saloon; and more. A special item in this section is a California Gold Rush money vest, intended to hold gold coin and be worn under clothing. This is an exceptional California Gold Rush rarity; none were found on the SS Central America!
**Western Assay Collection & Ingots**
In addition to the premier Comstock group previously mentioned, this section also includes rare California assay material including Bodie and San Francisco; Carson City Mint gold & silver deposits; and rare assay publications.
Rounding out this impressive section are seven different original Western ingots:
1. Peck Mine Silver Ingot, Prescott, Arizona, 1883
2. Gold Presentation Medallion, Cripple Creek, Colorado, 1896
3. North Star Sultan Mining Co. Ingot, Silverton, Colorado, c.1937
4. J. T. Kennedy, Hamilton, Nevada Portrait Presentation Silver Ingot, 1870
5. E. Ruhling Presentation Ingot to William Sharon, Virginia City, Nevada, c.1869
6. Gould & Curry Mining Co. Silver Ingot, Virginia City, Nevada, c.1904
7. Mathey, Kustel & Riotte Silver Ingot, 1880
All have fantastic research and write-ups from Fred Holabird.
**Bottles**
Offered this time are Colorado medicine bottles and Indian Territory & Oklahoma soda bottles from the Gary Bracken Collection; a few rare Nevada bottles including the Stephens & Jose soda from Virginia City, Nevada; and a great group of etched beer glasses including exposition pieces!
**General Americana**
A choice group of ephemera from Western states (particularly Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, and Nevada) including:
*great Arizona stereoviews and photographs incl. a 1908 hanging in Tucson!
*a group of Wells Fargo letters about a Montana stagecoach robbery tied to Black Bart’s Capturer
*a fantastic Nevada Legal Prostitution archive
*rare books including an original late 1600s Ecumenical Farce; a first edition of Mark Twain’s Roughing It, and more
*Gold Rush Collection incl. a ship’s manifest for an 1850 trip around the horn; a James King of William assassination lettersheet; SF directories and Gold Rush books; and rare banking exchanges
*Colorado and Montana billhead and check collections
*Thousands of artistic labels and advertising from the MacKenzie Montana Collection
*Sports collectibles including 1950s and 60s baseball cards; rare boxing postcards from the Prag Collection; and much more!
**Native Americana**
A robust section with baskets, pottery, jewelry, kachinas, and beadwork items from a few private collections. Key pieces include a Hopi Coil Olla Basket, a Pomo Oval Gift Basket, an early Maria Martinez Bowl, a "Sunshine" Reeves Silver Canteen, and a Cheyenne Pipe Bag.
**Stocks & Bonds**
This section features the Aurora Collection, a spectacular group of territorial stocks from this famous Nevada mining camp near Bodie; a group of 1860s oil, early American, and express stocks from the Ken Prag Collection incl. Robert Morris autographs; and other Western mining and railroad rarities incl. Utah Territory Comstock mining pieces, the earliest Comstock stocks around.
**Philatelic**
Large groups of California & other postcards; covers incl. Graf Zeppelin pieces; a special group of California poll tax receipts with facsimile tax stamps from the 1870s; and rare stamps and covers from the Gary Bracken Collection (and others).
Please be sure to use the Keyword Search Tool on our website (holabirdamericana.com) to search for items in your collecting categories across all 4 days!
*Timed Auctions*
Don’t miss the new auction format we have been experimenting with since last December: special weekend timed auctions. These sales are a mix of both new and old, and feature low-priced and dealer lots, as well as previously run material. And we’ve set the start prices to be very low ($10)! They’ve been a huge hit with our bidders and are a fun format we will be continuing to use in the future. Please check our website and subscribe to our email list to be notified of these internet-only auctions hosted exclusively on iCollector, our preferred auction platform.
We’re always looking for high-quality consignments in many categories, including Mining, Railroadiana, Native Americana, Numismatics, Bottles, Firearms, Stocks, and more.
If you would like to know more about consigning, or if you have any questions or comments about this sale, please give our office a call at 775-851-1859.
Our friendly staff is ready to help you continue to build your collection. We’ve created an astonishing community of customers around the world, including private collectors, institutions, and dealers. Remember, your collection could set the next world-record!
Thanks again for your continued interest in our auctions. This is going to be an exciting summer for our company (and customers); please stay tuned for special announcements.
And, as we like to say, bid early and bid often!
--The Holabird Team--
AUCTION SCHEDULE
Thursday, June 15th, 2023 (Lots 1000-1504)
Transportation (1000-1195)
Railroad & Steamer Passes
Railroadiana & Transportation Ephemera
Militaria & Weaponry (1196-1229)
Stocks & Bonds (1230-1504)
Mining feat. the Aurora Collection
Oil
Railroad
Misc. Categories
Friday, June 16th, 2023 (Lots 2000-2513)
Art (2000-2041)
General Americana (2042-2513)
Geo. Sort
Misc. Categories incl. Books, Fire, Artistic Labels
Saturday, June 17th, 2023 (Lots 3000-3507)
Native Americana (3000-3095)
Mining (3096-3413)
Western Assay Collection & Ingots
Ephemera feat. Comstock Photograph Collection
Bottles feat. Colorado Medicines (3414-3507)
Sunday, June 18th, 2023 (Lots 4000-4446)
Philatelic (4000-4134)
Postcards
Covers and Stamps
Sports (4135-4215)
Numismatics (4216-4446)
Currency
Ephemera
Coins
Medals
Tokens