THE GOLDEN WEST AUCTIONS

Auction Details

The Golden West Sale encompasses three sessions of auctions covering some of the most important historical western material from the Gold Rush periods of California, Nevada and Colorado. The material has been assembled from many of the great western collections, as well as original material handed down within Gold Rush families, held intact for over 100 years.
Session A of the Golden West Sale encompasses the annual WESTS (Western States Token Society) token auction. This year the highlight is clearly and unarguably the finest Western Indian Trader, Fort & Territorial collection ever assembled at public auction. The more than 500 lot sale contains dozens of R9 and R10 tokens, many of which have not seen the light of day in at least four decades. Some ephemera also is included from Indian Trader sites. Indian Trader tokens are an important form of money exchanged between Indians and Anglos in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Trading Posts were a way of life in the isolated outposts of the western plains and mountains, swapping furs, rugs, coats and other items for food stuffs and equipment. There has never been a sale of this magnitude and importance. The end of this sale will include a comprehensive collection of Naval tokens never before offered and with NO ESTIMATES or MINIMUM BID REQUIREMENTS, as this offering will set the pricing precedent for naval tokens.
Session B encompasses many of the popular collecting categories. It includes a strong photograph collection of American saloon interiors, saloon ephemera and Gold Rush region saloon tokens, also known as Pioneer Minor Coinage. Part of the saloon section includes a large collection of the ultra-rare Good-for mirrors, one of the rarest forms of money, many with pictorial representations of the fabulous “gay-90’s” saloon girls, as well as advertising mirrors. This is the largest mirror offering since the Rosa sale of 1988. Most of the mirrors are so rare that only one to three specimens of each are known. The session will be rounded out by a collection of So-called dollars and Hibler Kappen related material, $50 slug facsimiles, Chopmarked coins, Golden Gate International Exposition Medals and more. Much of this section is from the well-known Bill Weber Collection.
Session C The highlight of the sale is certainly the newly discovered Washington Nugget, a nearly 100 ounce nugget (and several others) found in an unmined section of the Omega-Malakoff Tertiary Channel in February, 2010 that made national news. The nuggets are accompanied by two large original nineteenth-century bullion scales (Christian Becker, New York; Henry Troemner, Philadelphia), It is accompanied in the sale by some masterful original Gold Rush art, inclusive of a spectacular and early rendition of a miner, several broadsides- a miner in lithographic form, panoramic views of mining communities, a number of original Currier & Ives prints of the Gold Rush and Salt Lake City, stage coach pieces, and the Alaska 1893 Yukon/Alaska Miners Union Banner.
A massive Gold Rush banking collection covers the 1850’s through 1860’s in California and Nevada, with what is probably the largest Gold Rush period banking collection ever offered publicly. It contains more than 100 different Bills of Exchange, a form of the first circulating currency on the West Coast. A wonderful and large collection of Gold Rush banking documents augments this fine collection, along with original leather gold pokes and money belts.
Some of the highlights of the Gold Rush Collection are documents from the original 1910 San Francisco sale of the estate of James King of William, documents signed by Adolph Sutro, California coiner F. D. Kohler, and others. A very rare letter book from Nevada mining and railroad magnate Hume Yerington from the mid-1860’s contains incredible information about his life prior to his railroad successes.
A large collection of US Mint ephemera is included, including rare bullion receipts, photographs, lithograph, gold coin and other coin bank bags, as well as rare Carson City gold and silver coins. Accompanying the Mint ephemera is a section of California Counters and rare California Gold Rush tokens.
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Reno,NV - Washoe County - 1934 - Gold Circle Consolidated Mines Letter :3721 - Reno,NV - Washoe County - 1934 - Gold Circle Consolidated Mines Letter :
Holabird-Kagin Americana
1934 typed letter of intent from Gold Circle Consolidated Mines to Support Chauncey W. Smith, who was running for school superintendent at the time. T
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 100.00 - 200.00
Sold to 8******m for (50.00 + 8.75BP) = 58.75
 
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Reno,NV - Washoe County - Harolds Club $1 Unlisted Chip :3722 - Reno,NV - Washoe County - Harolds Club $1 Unlisted Chip :
Holabird-Kagin Americana
Dark brown or black chip with two square white patches on the right and left edges, and gold lettering that reads, “Good / H (pic of four leaf clover
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Start Price : 50.00 | Estimate : 100.00 - 200.00
 
 
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Reno,NV - Washoe County - c1890 - Hotel, Riverside and the Virginia Street Bridge Photograph :3723 - Reno,NV - Washoe County - c1890 - Hotel, Riverside and the Virginia Street Bridge Photograph :
Holabird-Kagin Americana
Historic photo of the first Riverside Hotel and Reno’s first iron bridge. Photograph measures 4 5/8”x3 5/8”, no matte, low contrast—faded, and is sha
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 50.00 - 150.00
Sold to l******8 for (25.00 + 4.38BP) = 29.38
 
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Reno,NV - Washoe County - 1975 - Manuscript Collections at the Nevada Historical Society :3724 - Reno,NV - Washoe County - 1975 - Manuscript Collections at the Nevada Historical Society :
Holabird-Kagin Americana
By Higgins, L. James. Soft cover, indexed, 298 pages. Copyright by the Nevada Historical Society, 1975. Alphabetical listing of manuscripts collected
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Start Price : 25.00 | Estimate : 50.00 - 100.00
 
 
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Reno,NV - Washoe County - 1920s-1940s - Miscellaneous Nevada Post Card-Packets Collection :3725 - Reno,NV - Washoe County - 1920s-1940s - Miscellaneous Nevada Post Card-Packets Collection :
Holabird-Kagin Americana
Lot of 25 pieces promoting Reno, Lake Tahoe, Virginia City, Hoover Dam and Nevada generally. A few are real photos, but most are color lithos. Some du
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Start Price : 50.00 | Estimate : 100.00 - 200.00
 
 
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Reno,NV - Washoe County - 1932-1975 - Nevada Biographical Publications :3726 - Reno,NV - Washoe County - 1932-1975 - Nevada Biographical Publications :
Holabird-Kagin Americana
Lot of nine Nevada biographical publications, Works in the lot include the following: Pots O’Gold, 1935 Matt R. Penrose, Warden Nevada State Prison,
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 120.00 - 250.00
Sold to 8******m for (60.00 + 10.50BP) = 70.50
 
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Reno,NV - Washoe County - 1945-1977 - Nevada Mining and Treasure Hunting Magazines :3727 - Reno,NV - Washoe County - 1945-1977 - Nevada Mining and Treasure Hunting Magazines :
Holabird-Kagin Americana
Lot of 93 magazines on the topic of mining and treasure hunting in the west with contributions from 12 different magazines. Magazines in the lot inclu
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Start Price : 25.00 | Estimate : 50.00 - 150.00
 
 
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Reno,NV - Washoe County - April 5, 1924 - Nevada Newsletter :3728 - Reno,NV - Washoe County - April 5, 1924 - Nevada Newsletter :
Holabird-Kagin Americana
Measures 10 ½’’x 14’’ Outside covers are worn on the edges and the binding is torn. Yet it still holds together well and the papers on the ins...
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Start Price : 75.00 | Estimate : 150.00 - 300.00
 
 
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Reno,NV - Washoe County - c1900 - Nevada Portrait Collection :3729 - Reno,NV - Washoe County - c1900 - Nevada Portrait Collection :
Holabird-Kagin Americana
Lot of 11 studio photographs, mostly portraits of women and children. Many are from the Riverside Studio in, located on the corner of Virginia and Se
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Start Price : 50.00 | Estimate : 100.00 - 200.00
 
 
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Reno,NV - Washoe County - 1945-1974 - Northern Nevada Publications :3730 - Reno,NV - Washoe County - 1945-1974 - Northern Nevada Publications :
Holabird-Kagin Americana
Lot of three, including: 1)The City of Trembling Leaves, by Clark, Walter Van Tilburg. Hardcover, 690 pages (Paher #337). Published by the Sun Dial Pr
Bidding Has Concluded
Start Price : 25.00 | Estimate : 50.00 - 100.00
 
 
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