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HOLABIRD JACK HADDOCK COLLECTION SELECTIONSHere are some selected lots from the Jack Haddock Nevada Town Token Collection Auction by Holabird Americana. -Garrett 
Mineral Hill was a heck of a mining and milling community. In the 1860s, ores owned by the Manhattan Silver Mining Co. were mined and processed there. Early records of the mining camp are scarce, but a saloon known as Walker's Saloon ran from about 1880-1886, then became Thompson's Saloon, c 1886-1890, when a dead period hit the camp until about 1906 when a saloon again poured the magic liquid by R. Johnson. By 1912, the saloon had changed hands to Frank Pacini and Ross Plummer, then shortly after to Victor Venturino as proprietor, part of a long time eastern Nevada family. In mid-1912, Victor had the region's voting polling place at his house. In July that year, he bought the mineral rights of the Mineral Hill Consol. M.C. for $250. This is a great token from a very important 19th century Nevada mining camp. Pop in 1990: 6. Obverse: Victor Venturino/ Mineral Hill,/ Nev.
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E. Van Alstine was a pioneer merchant of Hawthorne, opening a store and possible bar in April, 1883. He advertised in the Walker Lake Bulletin heavily. Five years later, in April, 1888, he sold his store and goods to Robert Wright, who also used a token found in this sale. Pop in 1990: 2. Crazy rare. Obverse: GF/ 12 1/2c/E./ Van Alstine/ Hawthorne, Nevada/ in/ trade
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Giles (possibly James, could be Ed, a mining engineer) started a water service in Goldfield perhaps as easily as 1903, then in 1905 took on a partner Fayhin. The venture was important, as no water service was established until about July, 1906, which put the pair out of business. There are two variants of this exceptionally rare token, with a pop in 1990 of 2. Obverse: Giles/ phone/ 3625/ Goldfield, Nev.
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Please see the entry for Coddington above. Pop in 1990: 9. Good luck getting one. These two tokens are highly prized by beer collectors. In fact, one of Reno Brewing products is a cone top Royal Flush Beer can, which today is worth well in excess of $5,000. Obverse: C.M. Coddington/ Agent/ Yerington, Nev.
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Some saloon owners are so well known and iconic, that the saloon doesn't need a name like "Owl" or "Palace." The proprietor's name is plenty good enough. In this case, Frank Dickinson, who was a Comstock 1859 pioneer and sixty-plus year resident of Washoe County, was a name big enough to draw anybody. Dickinson was among the first to the Comstock. He and a partner staked a clam "within a stone's throw" of Riley & McLaughlin, but up higher on the hill. Davidson, whom the mountain there was named for, had a claim and was busy washing black sand, but gave it up. Dickinson and partner moved in, sent a sample to San Francisco, assayed at $8 per ton. FD said Riley & McLaughlin couldn't write, so he and his partner got Manny Penrod to come up from Carson to "fix their filing papers." About 1875, he was foreman of a jury for a case where a man got caught milking a cow he didn't own in the middle of the night and the cow owner sought prosecution for the "theft." Dickinson declared "we find the defendant guilty of milking a cow in the second degree." By 1900, Dickinson had a big ranch at Red Rock Valley, about 12-15 miles northeast of Chilcoot. He kept that ranch through at least 1916. During this time, he was an inveterate prospector, acquiring the Last Chance Mine in Plumas with partners John Sparks (NV Governor), and H. Butters (VC mining man). Dickinson moved up to Leadville (near Gerlach) about 1914. By 1917 he was the owner of a saloon in Leadville (Leadville was not canvassed by Polk in 1912 or 1914), when he was over 80 years old! He was out of Leadville before March of 1919, moving to Reno, where he died November, 1919. This token probably dates to 1916-1917, and is a remarkable piece of history. Pop in 1990: 2. It is the only self identified token from Leadville, a silver-lead mining camp named after the Colorado monster silver camp.
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Only known token from this Lyon County town. No saloon listings for Smith in 1907-08, 1912-13, or 1914-15 Polk directories, nor any Smith residents with that first name in any of those three directories. No listings for Fred's Bar found on newspapers.com. This one remains a mystery, but also a NV token rarity! Smith, Nevada, is an agricultural community in Lyon County's Smith Valley that was first settled in 1859 by herdsmen Timothy, R.B., and Cyrus "Adobe" Smith, who were drawn to the area's rich meadowlands along the West Walker River. Unlike neighboring Nevada towns born from mining booms, Smith grew steadily around a ranching rest stop called Smith's Station and established its official post office in 1892, followed by historic landmarks like the 1895 Methodist Church and the 1926 Central Bar & Mercantile. The community was briefly connected to wider western markets via the Nevada Copper Belt Railroad from 1911 until the 1940s, and today it remains a quiet rural hub where many of the original 19th-century pioneer ranches are still actively operated. Pop in 1990: 5. Obverse: Fred's Bar/ Smith, Nevada
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The only reference found for Mr. Pappas is in 1918-1919. By 1914 there were three saloons in Wabuska, one by Mr. Feeny and the other two owned by Dewitt Beach and Robert McKenzine. The latter pair had a partnership in a single saloon prior to 1912, but split the partnership up, each ending up with his own saloon, names not known. One of them may have sold to Pappas. Beach was quite the saloon and mining man. He had mining interests all around Yerington, and had opened a saloon in Granite in 1913, but also worked at Rand, Schurz, etc. In 1915, Beach got caught on the Schurz Reservation with whiskey. This tiny token may be from the late period, c 1916-1917. Pop in 1990: 1, thought to be unique. More research needed. The "red metal" means copper, typical of the Yerington-Wabuska area, which also hosted the Nevada Copperbelt railroad servicing the copper mines.
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Known as the "Rawhide Rabbit," this is extremely sought-after by Nevada token collectors! This establishment was robbed in June 1908 at 3 o'clock in the morning. They took the cash register from the bar as well as the roulette wheel ($300 total). Hawkins is listed in the 1912-13 Polk as one of 4 saloon owners in Rawhide and in the 1914-15 Polk as one of two saloon owners. He was granted a saloon license in March 1914. Pop in 1990: 4.
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