RENO, Nevada – Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC’s first major auction event of the New Year will be a four-day Western Trails & Treasures Premier Auction, Thursday-Sunday, February 24-27, online and online. live in the gallery located at 3555 Airways Drive in Reno. Departure times for all four days will be at 8 a.m. Pacific. Nearly 2,500 lots will cross the auction block.
The sale is packed with important collections including Part 2 of the Ron Lerch Western Yearbook Collection; Part 2 of the Joe Elcano Nevada Collection; more of the Ken Prag railroad stock collection; more from the Stuart MacKenzie Montana Collection; Bill McKivor’s Mining, Numismatics and Americana Collection and more, plus great rarities from other private collections.
Day 1, Thursday, February 24, will focus on general Americana, in categories including general books, games, saloon and brewing, jewelry, home furnishings, musical instruments and memorabilia, the miniature train and car, badges, geographically sorted and miscellaneous lots.
Day 1 highlights will include an archive of approximately 400 photographs of San Francisco and the Northern Redwood Corridor, taken circa 1932-1935 by photographer Russell William Angel, including many shots of majestic redwoods (estimate: $2,000 at $6,000); and a large archive of Hollywood movie posters, all printed in America, all 1970s and 80s movies and all original and folded as original versions, worthy of a Hollywood collector (estimate: $2,000-$4,000 ).
A gold ladies’ watch from LaFemme will also be offered, with the words “14k gold” on the back of the watch case and with a watch face covered with a hinged gold disc with a small diamond in the center ( estimate: $2,000 – $5,000); and an English Staffordshire ‘Delft’ blue and white transfer pitcher, model unknown, approximately 7 inches tall and personalized with a name and date painted in cursive on the side: ‘Jane Bigwood / February 24, 1817’ (estimate : $2,000 – $4,000).
Day 2, February 25, will feature stocks and bonds (in the mining, railroad and transportation and miscellaneous categories); and numismatics (including currency, certificates and ephemera; bullion and bullion; coins, medals and tokens). Over 625 lots will be auctioned on Day 2.
Expected Day 2 star lots include an Engelhard silver bar, produced in 1970 or 1971, serial number 03018, marked “16.075 oz” (which equals exactly 500g, or ½ kilo depending on the ozt specification.) (estimate: $2,000 to $3,000); and a complete set of U.S. Walking Liberty half dollar coins, 65 in all, dated 1916-1947, in mint to AU (almost uncirculated) condition, nicely housed in a Deluxe Dansco album no. 7160 (estimate: $2,500 – $5,000).
Day 3, Saturday, February 26, will be filled with nearly 600 lots of minerals and mining; directories (with part 2 of the Ron Lerch collection); military; and political memories.
The top lots will include an archive of approximately 2,500 handwritten letters from 1850 to 1912, relating to Frederick Robert (Roderick) Merk (1833-1912), a businessman who developed several important mining camps in Montana, and his family (estimate: $8,000 – $12,500); and a rare copy from Brown & Dallison’s Nevada, Grass Valley and Rough and Ready Directory (Calif.), 133 pages, with advertisements, compiled by Nat P. Brown and John K. Dallison (San Francisco) (estimate: $3,000-6,000).
An unmarked TA Potts (New Orleans) Civil War Confederate bayonet, about 17 inches long overall, without scabbard, intended to fit any number of muskets, however mediocre, but with a very sharp blade (estimate: $4,500-$6,000); and a rare set of 25 Hitleriada Furiosa and Hitleriada Macabra cartoon prints by Stanislaw Toegel (1946), mocking German Nazis, compiled and published in limited quantities by Antoni Markiewicz (estimate: $3,500-$6,000).
The final day of the auction, Sunday, February 27, will feature art, Native Americans, transportation (railroad and steamboat crossings, ephemera and artifacts); and bargain and dealer promotions that will include General Americana, Stocks & Bonds, and Numismatics – a total of 625 lots on Day 4.
The art will be led by an original oil painting by Ernest Narjot, considered one of California’s 30 Great Artists, titled The grandchildren, depicting three children, signed and dated 1865, in a gilt frame (possibly original) (estimate: $5,000-$15,000); and a classic oil on canvas western cowboy hunting scene by FW Trautwein, titled on the frame, Meat ain’t meat until it’s in the pan (1972), depicting a cowboy who has just slaughtered a mountain sheep (estimate: $3,000 to $5,000).
Other highlights on Day 4 will include a Pacific Northwest totem pole dating from around 1880-1900, standing 15 feet tall, containing six figures, possibly from the Puget Sound area and the Shomamish Clan , which used owls atop their totem poles (estimate: $5,000-$10,000); and a handcrafted pot by Montana artist Randall Blaze (b. 1949), titled Shields17 inches tall, with turquoise-colored enamel dots for the stars, multicolored buffaloes, and striking gold lightning bolts (estimate: $4,000-$8,000).
Online auctions via iCollector.com, LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com and Auctionzip.com.
The full catalog can be viewed online now at www.holabirdamericana.com. For those planning to attend the auction in person, COVID-19 regulations and protocols will apply.
Color catalogs are available by calling 1-844-492-2766 or 775-851-1859. Additionally, anyone with a collection that may be featured in an upcoming Holabird Western Americana Collections auction is encouraged to contact us. The company travels extensively across the United States to view and collect collections. The company has agents across America and will travel to inspect most collections.
Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC is always looking for new and important collections to bring to market. It prides itself on being a major source of selling Americana at the best prices available, having outsold any other similar company in the past decade alone. The company will soon have its entire sales database online, free of charge – nearly 200,000 lots sold since 2014.
To consign a unique piece or collection, you can call Fred Holabird at 775-851-1859 or 844-492-2766; or, you can email [email protected] To learn more about Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC and the four-day Western Trails & Treasures Premier Auction, February 24-27, please visit www.holabirdamericana.com. Updates are released often.
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