HOLABIRD APRIL 2020 SALES ANNOUNCED

PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE FULL ISSUE PREV FULL ISSUE

V23 2020 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 23, Number 15, April 12, 2020, Article 34

Here is the press release for the April 2020 Holabird sales. See my earlier article (linked below) for some selected lots. -Editor

HOLABIRD WESTERN AMERICANA COLLECTIONS' FOUR-DAY BIG TENT AUCTION WILL BE ONLINE-ONLY, APRIL 16-19, WITH NEARLY 3,100 LOTS IN 30 CATEGORIES

The categories include philatelic and numismatic (stamps, coins), mining, Americana, railroad.

A huge, four-day, online-only Big Tent Auction packed with nearly 3,100 lots of philatelic and numismatic (stamps and coins), mining, Americana, railroad collectibles and more will be held Thursday thru Sunday, April 16-19, by Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC, starting at 8 am Pacific time each day. There will be no live in-gallery bidding for this sale.

Online bidding will be facilitated by iCollector.com, LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com, AuctionMobility.com and Auctionzip.com. On Day 3 only, people will also be able to bid at www.StampAuctionNetwork.com. Telephone and absentee bids will also be accepted. The number to call for phone bidders is 775-851-1859. For details, please visit www.fhwac.com.

"Our Reno facility is currently closed and will not be open to in-person attendees, but the vast majority of the bidding action takes place online and over the phone anyway, so we're expecting a huge online turnout for this auction," said company president Fred Holabird. "Meantime, we're observing WHO recommendations and sanitizing the offices and gallery up to four times a day."

The auction features items in around 30 collecting categories. It will be led by Part 2 of the John Reynolds collection of California tokens, medals and shell cards, as well as his fabulous aviation mail (and California) postal history collection of more than 10,000 covers, plus his Pioneer post card collection and an important collection of circus and slide show photography and ephemera.

"We only split out some of the circus and slide show collection, such as the tokens, medals and scrip, into individual lots," Mr. Holabird said. "The bulk of the collection is so good, and of such excellent quality, that we felt it needed to stay together as a whole." Thousands of photographs (CDV, cabinet card, photo post cards) collected since the early 1960s, will be offered as one lot.

That collection, with a pre-sale estimate of $60,000-$85,000, is an expected highlight of Day 1, which overall will have 754 lots of Native Americana, general America, art and books. Also up for bid will be an original gouache on paper portrait of a woman by Cuban artist Amelia Pelaez (1896-1968), signed and with an image area of 16 inches by 11 ¾ inches (est. $10,000-$20,000).

Other Day 1 highlights will include a large-scale oil on canvas depiction of a Civil War scene by Michael Thomas O'Loughlin (Idaho, 1951-2017), titled The Dyin' Cry of the Blue II, in a 69 inch by 44 inch frame (est. $3,000-$5,000); and a circa 1970s Navajo turquoise squash blossom necklace with a beautiful selection of stones surrounded by fine silver work (est. $1,200-$1,800).

Day 2 will be busy, with 753 lots of mining equipment, minerals, mining artifacts and ephemera, stocks and bonds in multiple categories (to include mining and railroad), sports, militaria and firearms and weaponry. One noteworthy lot is the gold and quartz specimen, a native gold in quartz matrix with 0.75 percent gold content and weighing 5.03 troy ounces (est. $7,000-$9,000).

Day 2 will also see a continuation of the Ken Prag stocks and bonds collection, as well as the complete and intact Geff Pollock collection of Utah mining stock certificates – more than 2,000 pieces in all, being offered as a single lot (est. $70,000-$90,000. The thirty-year collection is highlighted by an 1864 Jordan Mining Co. stock certificate, signed by General Patrick Connor.

It's important to note that all stock certificates in this auction are being sold as antiques and have no securities trading value whatsoever. Likewise, all law enforcement badges are being offered as historical collectibles only and are not meant to convey authority in any way whatsoever. In fact, nothing in the catalog is being sold as a usable product – just as an antique or a collectible.

Day 3, on Saturday, April 18, will consist of 764 lots of philatelic and postal history collectibles, to include ephemera, first day and commemorative, first flight, airships, philatelic covers and postcards. Lot 3275 is a major collection of covers from the USS Macon zeppelin (1932-1935). There are 500 covers in the collection; none are believed to be duplicates (est. $5,000-$15,000).

Day 4 will also top the 750-lot mark, with categories that include tokens, numismatics, cowboy and Western, and bargains and dealer specials in multiple categories. Coin lovers will be drawn to lot 4280, a Lincoln cent hoard featuring 27 Whitman #1 albums of early Lincoln cents (1909- 1940). Many key dates are included and the conditions tend to vary greatly (est. $2,000-$5,000).

An expected top lot of Day 4 is the rare and complete set of ten framed six-inch medallions for the 21 Club Restaurant in New York City created by Metallic Art Company in 1971 (est. $5,000- $10,000). Each silver-plated copper medallion represents a work by the famous Western sculptor Frederic Remington. The set is mounted on a leather background and housed in a wooden frame.

Color catalogs are available by calling 1-844-492-2766, or 775-851-1859. Also, anyone owning a collection that might fit into an upcoming Holabird Western Americana Collections auction is encouraged to get in touch. The firm travels extensively throughout the U.S., to see and pick up collections. Last year it visited Boston, Florida, Seattle and New York, among other destinations.

Holabird Western Americana Collections is always in the hunt for quality Americana and coin consignments, bottles, advertising and other collections for future auctions. To consign a single piece or a collection, you may call Fred Holabird at 775-851-1859 or 844-492-2766; or, you can send an e-mail to fredholabird@gmail.com. To learn more about Holabird Western Americana Collections and the online-only April 16 th -19 th Big Tent Auction, please visit www.fhwac.com.