Holabird's Huge, Pike's Peak or Bust! Auction, Jan 19-22, will Honor The Great Colorado Gold Rush

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Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC’s first live auction event of the year will be a four-day affair – January 19th thru 22nd – featuring collectibles in over a dozen categories, including bottles, railroadiana, Native Americana, mining, numismatics, art, stocks, militaria and general Americana, online and live in the Reno gallery located at 3555 Airway Dr. 

The auction, starting at 8 am Pacific time each day, is officially titled Pike’s Peak or Bust! Western Americana, Bottles, Numismatics & More. “With a healthy dose of exciting Colorado and Western states material, we decided to name this auction in honor of the great Colorado Gold Rush of 1859,” said Fred Holabird, owner of Holabird Western Americana Collections. 

Featured collections and highlights will include Part IV of the Gary Bracken Collection – more great offerings from the Ponca City, Oklahoma lawyer. Featured will be Native Americana (including arrowheads); tokens (Colorado, Missouri and Oklahoma); Colorado medicine bottles; whiskey jugs and stoneware; and Colorado, Indian Territory and Oklahoma billhead collections. 

Important early American documents from the 1700s and 1800s, including autographed pieces from Benjamin Franklin, Grover Cleveland and James Buchanan, will be sold, while the art category will highlight a group of signed prints and books from Ansel Adams, signed prints from famous photographer Paul Strand, signed Salvador Dali pieces, and wood and stone sculptures. 

The railroadiana portion of the sale will feature a big new group of railroad and steamer passes – always a hit with collectors. Other railroad items will include keys, locks and lanterns. Holabird will also offer more rare Colorado mining stocks from a private collection, Colorado railroad stocks, autograph pieces (including Wells Fargo and Jay Gould) and market fresh mining stocks. 

In addition to Oklahoma points from the Bracken collection, the Native American section also has kachinas, pine crafts and basketry, and ephemera, including art and photographs. Militaria features items from the Civil War, Indian Wars and both World Wars, including photographs, autographed documents and artifacts. Early shotguns, muskets and ammo will also be offered. 

General Americana will feature rare documents, books and artifacts from Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, the Oklahoma/Indian Territory and more. Smaller categories include cowboy, sports, books, jewelry, toys/model railroad and hard goods. Mining will include minerals and fossil plates, ephemera from Colorado and Nevada, spoons, tags and mercury jugs. 

Day 1, on Thursday, January 19th, will feature 514 lots of general Americana, which will include geographic sort and miscellaneous categories, to include cowboy, sports, books and toys. 

A document written and signed by William Henry Ashley, Lt. Gov. of Missouri in 1824, giving notice to an appointed Sheriff of Cooper County, with the Seal of Missouri lower left, has an estimate of $4,000-$6,000. Also, a City of Tombstone, Arizona business license, dated Aug. 1, 1881 (two months before the shoot-out at the OK Corral), and issued to the Peck Bros. (for “Peddlers”), signed by Town Marshall Virgil Earp (Wyatt’s brother), should hit $3,000-$5,000. 

A McLellan model 1885 cavalry saddle with an A.D. Laidley Ordinance inspection stamp, complete with tack, is expected to fetch $1,000-$2,000. Laidley inspected leather goods for the U.S. Ordinance Dept. from the Civil War through the Indian Wars. Also, an original Ringling Brothers broadside, circa 1897, advertising “Three Famous Aerial Ladies” (Miss Leon, La Bella Carmen and Miss Carroll), measuring 23 ½ inches by 16 inches, should command $500-$1,500. 

Day 2, on Friday, January 20th, will contain 546 lots of transportation (railroad and steamer passes and transportation ephemera) and bottles and saloon (featuring Colorado whiskey and medicines). 

A circa 1868 Dr. Boerhaave’s Stomach Bitters bottle, dark green lime with an applied top, 8 ¾ inches tall, an exceptionally rare Western bitters bottle and one of maybe only five or six known, carries an estimate of $4,000-$10,000; and a near-mint M. Goodman (Cripple Creek Colo.) half-gallon jug, an unlisted variant of Preble (J 32) and very scarce, having a brown glaze on the top, a lighter glaze on the bottom and sloped shoulders, 7 ½ inches tall, should realize $1,200-$2,000. 

An autograph letter dated April 14, 1829 and signed by Peter Haywood, whose naval career was clouded by the misfortune of being a 16-year-old seaman aboard the merchant vessel HMS Bounty at the time of her famous mutiny in 1789, should sell for $300-$2,000. Also, a Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway map and timetables, printed by the Herald Printing & Publishing Co. in June 1887, 40 inches by 17 inches, is expected to finish at $500-$1,000. 

Day 3, on Saturday, January 21st, will be a busy day, filled with 533 lots of art (featuring Ansel Adams, Salvador Dali and Paul Strand), Native Americana, political collectibles (including early American autos), militaria, firearms and weaponry, minerals and mining, and stocks and bonds. 

An historically significant land deed signed by Benjamin Franklin as President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, dated April 11, 1787, for 282 acres known as “Powersburg” on the west side of Pine Creek, has an estimate of $25,000-$50,000. Also, a photo print of Paul Strand’s White Horse image (1932), taken in Taos, New Mexico, 8 inches by 10 inches, from a collection of prints likely sent to Ansel Adams by Strand himself, should earn $5,000-$10,000. 

Speaking of Ansel Adams, a signed print of the renowned photographer’s El Capitan Winter Sunrise, 9 inches by 10 inches from an edition of 250 and inscribed on the back to Andrea Gray and Gardner/Fulmer Lithograph, is estimated to reach $3,000-$5,000. Also, a framed lithograph by Salvador Dali titled The Thumb, #12 of 65, reserved for Dali himself and others in his circle (not for sale), housed in a frame measuring 39 inches by 29 inches, should garner $3,000-$7,000. 

Day 4, on Sunday, January 22nd, will be all numismatics, starting with 13 different Nevada banknotes and continuing with US coins (including Carson City Morgan silver dollars), medals, and a large offering of tokens (from Colorado, Missouri and Oklahoma). 

A $20 Nixon National Bank (Reno, Nev.) 1902 red seal banknote (CH. #8424, Fr. 641), one of four known and signed by George S. Nixon as president of the bank, graded Very Fine 20, is expected to find a new home for $50,000-$75,000. Also, an 1871 silver U.S. Peace Medal (Julian IP-42), depicting Ulysses S. Grant on the obverse and the saying “One Earth Peace, Good Will Toward Men” on the reverse, in almost uncirculated condition, should ring up $15,000-$25,000. 

A scarce Eagle Club (Leadville, Colo.) token (“Eagle / Club / Leadville / Colo. / You May Call Again”) round, 21 mm wide and in extra fine condition, carries an estimate of $1,000-$2,000. Also, a brothel token from Denver, Colorado (“Compliments / Of / Miss Olga / 2148 Market Str. / Denver”), round, in 21 mm wide, in almost uncirculated condition, should make $600-$1,000. 

Internet bidding will be provided by iCollector.com, LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com and Auctionzip.com. Phone and absentee bids will also be accepted.

In March, Holabird has an auction planned that will feature Part 2 of items from the S.S. Central America. The firm is seeking treasure-related items, ingots, gold nuggets and Gold Rush collectibles to add to this sale, which will feature “Treasures from the Land & Sea”. It is also looking for consignments from mining, railroadiana, Native Americana, numismatics and bottles.

To learn more about Holabird Western Americana Collections and the auction titled Pike’s Peak or Bust! Western Americana, Bottles, Numismatics & More, visit www.holabirdamericana.com. Updates are posted frequently.