RENO, Nev. – A large Native American-themed oil painting by Nevada gaming artist Franz Trevors sold for $6,250, an ornate sterling silvered Mexican Charro parade-style saddle used in the Pasadena Rose Parade around 1940 brought $4,500, and a collection of 45 Alaska tokens fetched $5,375 in Holabird Western Americana Collections’ four-day auction held Feb. 14-17.

The Objects of Our Affection auction was packed with over 2,500 lots of numismatics, mining collectibles, Americana, railroad memorabilia and more. It was held online and in the Holabird gallery located at 3555 Airway Drive (Suite #308) in Reno. The overall gross was $356,000, as 2,450 people registered to bid online via iCollector, LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable and Auctionzip.

Featured were Part 1 of the John Reynolds collection of exonumia (numismatic items such as tokens, medals and scrip) and Americana; the Benjamin Fauver collection of counter tokens; the Bill Bliss collection of Potosi Mine (Nevada) gold and silver ingots; and numismatics, to include Masonic pennies, coins, medals, so-called dollars, tokens, shell cards, wooden money and dies.

Also offered were original James Marshall California Gold Rush collectibles; mining equipment, maps, ephemera, USGS folios and rare stock certificates; art (including works by Franz Trevors and William Forrest Martin, plus Japanese Netsuke); a whiskey and beer shot collection; vintage baseball and boxing collectibles; stocks and bonds from the Ken Prag collection; and other items.

Day 1, on Friday, February 14th, featured 74 lots of artwork, general Americana (to include jewelry, pocket watches, souvenir spoons, souvenir plates, ephemera (geographically sorted), miscellaneous items (including decoys, books, music, toys and more), an mining artifacts and ephemera (including books, more geographically sorted ephemera, equipment and other items.

The star lot of Day 1 was the oil painting by Franz Trevors (American, 1907-1980). The work, 5 feet by 8 feet and titled War Party on the Move, was commissioned by Felix Turrillas, Jr., the owner of Felix’s Bank Club in Lovelock, Nevada, and was rendered in the style of C.M. Russell. It had no signature because it was repaired for the Bank Club decades ago and, in the process, Trevors’s signature was erased. The painting depicted Native Americans in an outdoor setting.

Other Day 1 performers included a Regina 20 ¾ inch, style 26 music box built in 1899, boasting magnificent, bright and rich sound, with 23 metal discs 20 ¾ inches in diameter ($3,625); a five-star, ball-tipped “Deputy Sheriff” badge from Denver, Colorado, circa 1880s-1890s ($531); and a large Nevada steam-driven hoist, having no cable but great as a major mine display ($3,125).

Day 2, on Saturday, February 15th, was dedicated to almost entirely to geographically sorted stocks and bonds (with categories that include mining, railroad, transportation and general). Also offered were railroad artifacts and ephemera. In all, 643 lots crossed the auction block on Day 2.

On Day 2 a stock certificate for Edison Phonographs, Ltd. (N.J.), signed by Thomas Edison himself as president and issued on April 5, 1922 to Henry Lanahan in the amount of one share, garnered $2,625; while a stock certificate for the Pennsylvania & Lake Superior (Mich.) Copper Company, dated Dec. 25, 1845 and one of the earliest Michigan mining stocks, rose to $1,125.

Day 3, on Sunday, February 16th, was a dream for fans of numismatics. Featured were coins (encased and elongated, Masonic and general), medals and so-called dollars, ingots, currency, exonumia, ephemera, tokens (shell cards and geographic sort), wooden money, dies and hobbs.

The Alaska token collection – 45 tokens, with various cities represented, including the Heraldic Art silver medal of Alaska statehood in 1959, was one of the day’s top lots. Also sold was a well-worn Italian Republic of Milan one lira silver coin from 1791 with an image of Leopold II on the obverse and counter-stamped by Sacramento, Calif. druggist J. L. Polhemus, hit $2,375.

Day 4, on Monday, February 17th, concluded the sale with a flourish. Offered were firearms and militaria, cowboy collectibles, Native Americana, bottles and glass, sports collectibles and bargains and dealer specials to include general Americana, numismatics and stocks and bonds. The stocks and bonds comprised several categories, to include mining, railroad and general.

The silvered, Mexican Charro parade-style saddle was the big attraction on Day 4. The high quality, ornate saddle came with a matching sabre, sombrero and other accoutrements. The sword had a Mexican engraved scene on the blade and was made by “A. Aragon, Oax.” The fact that the saddle was used in the Pasadena Rose Parade around World War II boosted its cachet.

Other Day 4 top lots included a group of nine photo pins for the Oakland Oaks (Calif.) baseball team (1903-1955), made by Whitehead & Hoag Co. of San Francisco, dating to around 1910 ($2,375); a token for the Pioneer Base Ball Club (Springfield, Mass., organized in April 1858), with a pictorial of a hitter on the obverse, one of 125 struck ($1,312); and a collection of about 40 California arrowheads and points, plus a 1902 Indian head penny, nicely framed ($437).

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 e-mail him at fredholabird@gmail.com. To learn more about Holabird Western Americana Collections and the firm’s calendar of upcoming auction events, please visit www.fhwac.com.

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