Holabird presents treasures of the West, wild and otherwise, July 21-24

 

RENO, Nev. – Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC’s four-day Wild West Auction slated for July 21-24 will be headlined by two massive and important collections: one from Gary Bracken, who collected in a staggering 60-plus categories, to be spread out across multiple sales; the other from James and Barbara Sherman, whose huge collections were housed in a museum. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

“The Gary Bracken collection is huge and varied, covering everything from Roman coins to Colorado collectibles,” said Fred Holabird of Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC. “The Sherman mining collection is also enormous, but exclusively Western. We also have a large Colorado mining exhibit pulled from museums, plus minerals, rocks and other good stuff.”

Gary Bracken was a lawyer in Ponca City, Oklahoma, in the heart of the northern state’s rich oil region. He had two professions: law and collecting. His collections spanned tens of thousands of items in dozens of categories. He started by collecting arrowheads in the Mississippi Valley throughout the Midwest. Noticing the rusty stuff near the arrowhead sites prompted him to seek artifacts and old bottles.

He collected stamps as a kid, and some of his earliest and best-organized collections are his stamp and cover collections. Another childhood favorite was old coins, given to him by his mother when he was six years old. He tried to assemble a collection of Roman coins sorted by every major ruler and domain. He had what may be the king of all Viking coins, plus tokens, currency and scrip. A representative piece from this aspect of Bracken’s pursuits is an album of Greek coinage that he assembled, which will be offered with an estimate of $4,000-$6,000.

Bracken collected just about everything having to do with Colorado, except private gold coins. His token, bottle, key tag, dog tag, letterhead, cover and ephemera collections are terrific. For years he was a regular at the Leadville, Colorado dump, looking for old bottles and tokens. He did the same at Tonopah, Nevada; in Leavenworth, Kansas; and in other locations as well. A Bracken find of particular note is an octagonal brass token touting the Grand Saloon of Taos, New Mexico, emblazoned with saucy messages. Its estimate is $3,000-$6,000.

His Wild West collection is superb, and includes original 101 Ranch goods (near Stillwell, Oklahoma, down the road from where he lived) such as a beaded holster from the original museum, estimated at $20,000-$50,000; an early carte de visite of William Buffalo Bill Cody, estimated at $20,000-$50,000; a dead mint cabinet card of Annie Oakley and a fantastic collection of Indian chiefs on cabinet cards.

James and Barbara Sherman were the authors of Ghost Towns of Arizona (1969) and Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of New Mexico (1975). James was a mining engineer as well as a dedicated historian of the American West. He collected Western antiques, documents and artifacts. A sizable 40-year collection led him to create a personal museum located in Tucson, Arizona.

Acquired in Tombstone, Arizona; El Paso, Texas; Cheyenne, Wyoming and the gold fields of California and beyond, the Shermans’ collection covers a vast cross-section of Western Americana, with specific areas of focus that include mining, gambling, cowboys, transportation, bottles, coins, many rare paper documents, ephemera and autographs.

Just a few of the more unusual items include a well-preserved 1880s buffalo coat, a Wells Fargo strongbox, documents signed by the likes of Judge Roy Bean, Virgil Earp and Pat Garrett, and an 1860 Colt Conversion Revolver owned by legendary lawman Elfego Baca. This last is estimated at $20,000-$25,000. There are hundreds of museum-quality, one-of-a-kind items, of the sort that almost never come to auction and are certain to entice collectors of the bygone Wild West.

Day 1 of the auction, scheduled for Thursday, July 21, will feature 480 lots of philatelic items, to include postcards and postal history, featuring items from the Bracken collection and a collection out of Elcano, Nevada; and stocks and bonds. More than 600 lots will come up for bid on Day 1, including a Leavenworth City and Pikes Peak Express cover, estimated at $3,000-$4,000.

Day 2, taking place Friday, July 22, will contain art; transportation collectibles, including railroad and steamer passes, ephemera and artifacts; and general Americana, including geographic sort, general store and miscellaneous categories. In all, 625 lots will be offered that day.

Day 3, set for Saturday, July 23, will feature numismatic material, including currency and scrip, coins – featuring U.S., ancient and foreign coins – as well as medals, badges and exonumia; and tokens, featuring Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma – in all, 622 lots.

The auction’s final day, on Sunday, July 24, will showcase Native Americana; cowboy and Wild West material; minerals and mining items; sports; bottles, highlighted by examples from Colorado and Oklahoma; and saloon, tobacciana and gaming collectibles. Day 4 will have 583 lots; the auction in its entirely will have 2,441 lots.

To consign a single piece or a collection, you may call Fred Holabird at 775-851-1859 or 844-492-2766; or email fredholabird@gmail.com. To learn more about Holabird Western Americana Collections, visit www.holabirdamericana.com.

 

View top auction results on LiveAuctioneers here: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/