Major Collections of Railroadiana and Montana Mining will Headline Holabird's Big Feb. 11-15 Auction

2024-05-08 04:26:09 Art & Entertainment

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Reno, Nevada, USA, February 2, 2021 -- Already famous for its five-day monster auctions that feature thousands of lots in a rainbow of collecting categories, Holabird Western Americana Collections will up the ante with a Sweetheart Express Auction, also five days, from February 11th-15th, online and live in the Reno gallery located at 3555 Airway Drive. The sale is bursting with nearly 4,000 premier lots.

?The first sale of 2021 promises to be our best sale in several years ? across the board ? in every category,? said Fred Holabird, president and owner of Holabird Western Americana Collections. ?We?ve been fortunate to receive many key collections to offer some of the best material to be sold in years. It may be the best cross-section of collectibles since the big market crash of 2008.?

Start times all five days are 8 am Pacific time, with Internet bidding available via iCollector.com, LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com and Auctionzip.com. Telephone and absentee bids will also be accepted. The full catalog can be viewed online now, at www.HolabirdAmericana.com. For those planning to attend the auction in person, all state and CDC regulations and protocols regarding the COVID-19 coronavirus (masks, social distancing, etc.) will be strictly enforced.

The auction is titled The Sweetheart Express because it?s loaded with sweet deals right around Valentine?s Day and contains thousands of gift ideas for that special someone. The sale will be headlined by two major collections: the Gary Nelson collection of railroadiana and the Stewart MacKenzie collection of Montana mining. Both should attract a great deal of bidder interest.

Top billing goes to Gary Nelson, a lifetime collector and railroad employee whose collection features hundreds of trains in excellent working condition, engines, accessories, buildings, specialty cars (such as snow plows and maintenance cars, with crews), tracks, one-of-a-kind trains (many in mint or near-mint condition), and hundreds of different multi-signal lamps.

There are also hundreds of railroad lanterns, including a Wabash embossed lamp with a teal globe, railroad signal signs, rolling stock with factory errors, a 1930s Standard Gauge in near-mint condition and more. All-model train scales and gauges include S-Gauge, O-Gauge, HO-Gauge and O-27. Names like Lionel, MTH, American Flyer and Buddy ?L? are all included. The collection includes the very first cast-iron train purchased from the Graham Clayton collection.

Stewart ?Scotty? MacKenzie (1942-2020) of Chinook, Montana was a die-hard Montana ?paper? collector. One of his great finds was the archive of the Pony, Montana Miners Union, with all their banners, badges and accoutrements. At trade shows he?d have boxes of letters and invoices, having learned that the billhead and letterhead market needed more Montana mining material.

MacKenzie also discovered tons of mining stocks. He brought Montana to the forefront when he acquired the huge holdings of the Butte mines. Armed with thousands of stocks signed by mining magnate William A. Clark, MacKenzie fed these pieces into the worldwide certificate market, increasing global demand. His collection of Montana billheads, letterheads and stocks is huge.

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. The company has agents all over America and will travel to inspect most collections.

To learn more about Holabird Western Americana Collections and the 5-day Sweetheart Express Auction planned for Thursday thru Monday, Feb. 11th-15th, please visit www.holabirdamericana.com. Updates are posted often. The email address is fredholabird@gmail.com.