RENO, NV.- Reports of Fred Holabird’s professional retirement have been greatly exaggerated. The veteran auctioneer and owner of Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC has been in a self-imposed retirement since his Grand Finale auction last year. But he’s saddling up again, this time to auction The Jack Haddock Nevada Town Token Collection on Friday, November 6.

The live auction is being hosted exclusively on iCollector.com, starting at 8am Pacific Time. It’s packed with 250 lots of vintage and antique Nevada tokens, most of them metal but some paper and celluloid plastic. Half of the tokens up for bid are either unique or one of just a few known. Most of the businesses issuing tokens were saloons, hence the 12 ½ cent value or “one bit” drink.

Fred and Jack are friends. “I met him in 1976, when I was enthralled by embossed local drug store bottles and the fact that they could come from remote Nevada ghost towns,” Holabird said. “As a mining geologist, I got to go all over Nevada to many of these old mining sites. Then Jack said to me one day, ‘Wait a minute. There are tokens that go with these places.’ I was hooked.”

A jovial character, Jack found and met many collectors across Nevada, and introduced many to Fred, too. “I wasn’t after tokens at first,” Holabird said, “but what really got me going later was after a number of years in the mining exploration business, I had been to so many of these crazy little mining camps I just had to collect stuff from them – paper, tokens, bottles. It didn’t matter.”



Many tokens up for bid have interesting back stories. Lot #285 is a circa-1909-1915 token for the Springer & Bangs saloon, the only known token from Seven Troughs, Nevada. The obverse says, “Good For /12 ½ Cents / T.E. Bangs / Seven Troughs.” Seven Troughs was established in 1906 as a gold mining camp. It was named after a series of local cattle-watering troughs. Flash floods led to the mine’s demise in the 1930s. The diamond-shaped token should bring $2,000-$3,000.

Lot #336 is a token for C. M. Coddington, who had a beverage business in Yerington, Nevada after moving there from Utah. The token is for Weiland and Sierra beer with the reverse saying, “Good For / 1 Drink / of Weiland’s Beer.” It’s half moon-shaped, with holes for a string to hang around the neck of the bottle. This rare unique Western beer token has an estimate of $300-$500.

A dozen of the metal tokens carry high estimates of $4,000. They are as follows:

• Lot #102 – Womack & Sons, Aura City, Nev. Businessman and politician Asa Womack funded his son Clyde’s saloon business called Womack & Sons, from circa 1907-1909. This is an exceedingly rare token, possibly the only one in existence.



• Lot #119 – Saint Gray’s Shrine, Bullfrog, Nev. This is the only token to carry the “Bullfrog, Nevada” name. The saloon’s name resonates of a religious theme, and records indicate at least one religious service was held there. Obverse: “Good for 12½ c in trade.”

• Lot #158 – Antler Bar, Ely City, Nev. Ely began as a mining camp in 1879, but later grew into its own with copper. By 1908, east of town, buildings were built, a hotel and several saloons arose and the new town was called “Ely City” for a few months until the Post Office rejected the name and chose “East Ely” instead. This token was unknown until after 1990.

• Lot #178 – Jefferson & Martell, Glenbrook, Nev. This is a popular token, dating from the 1880s. Glenbrook is at the midpoint of the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe and was the site of a major logging area that fed the Comstock. Mark Twain spent some time there.

• Lot 201 – WTS Warner, Jack Rabbit, Nev. – Prospectors in the hills north of Pioche gave the mining town its name in the 1870s. W.T.S. Warner and his wife had a saloon there, but business wasn’t good and it closed in 1908. Reverse: “Good for 10c in trade.”



• Lot #214 – Frank Dickinson Bar, Leadville, Nev. - Frank Dickinson was a Comstock 1859 pioneer and larger-than-life figure. He moved up to Leadville about 1914 and by 1917 he owned a saloon – at over 80 years old! Reverse: “Good for one drink or cigar.”



• Lot #254 – The Canteen, Nelson, Nev. Nelson is a tiny gold camp in far southern Nevada, active from 1905-1919. There were two saloons, owned by El Dorado canyon prospectors, but no mention of The Canteen to tie it to them. This token is octagonal.

• Lot #271 – Mazzeno & Datta, Riepetown, Nev. – Riepetown was laid out by Richard Reipe in 1907. By 1909 it was the wettest town in the county and one of the state's toughest places. Saloons closed at 11pm. Obverse: “Good for 12 ½ c. in merchandise.”



• Lot #298 – Union Bar, Fean & Nelson, Star Pointer, Nev. – This is the only known token merchant for the tiny secluded White Pine County mining ghost town, owned by Frank V. Fean and Harry Nelson, proprietors of the Union Bar. The 4-scalloped token is good for 12 c.

• Lot #320 – Red Metal Saloon, Wabuska, Nev. - This tiny circa 1916-1917 token, good for 10c in trade, may be unique. The "red metal" means copper, typical of the Yerington-Wabuska area, which hosted the Nevada Copperbelt railroad servicing the copper mines.

• Lot #327 – Sauer &Kornmeyer, Washoe City, Nev. - This aluminum, self-identified Washoe City token is from the key town that served the Comstock until the CRPP and V&T RR were built circa 1869, connecting the Comstock with rail access to everywhere. It dates from a later period, the last of a great bustling rush, and is one of just two known. The token has eight scalloped edges.

• Lot #330 – C.C.C. Co. 1915, Westgate, Nev. - Westgate has always been a stage stop into central Nevada. In the late 1930’s, the Federal Government ran a CCC camp at Westgate. This rare token dates to that period. Obverse: “Good for 5 cents in trade.”



Not all the tokens are metal. Some are paper or celluloid plastic. Lot #191 is a paper trade token for Hamilton Toll Road in Hamilton, Nevada. It may have been for the Shermantown and Hamilton Toll Road, which operated from 1870-1874. The obverse reads, “Hamilton Toll Rd / Six Horse Team / $1.00.” This rare yellow cardboard token has an estimate of $2,000-$4,000.

Other toll road trade tokens include lot #284, a yellow 1-dollar trade token for Secret Canyon, a mining area near Eureka, Nevada. The toll road was made along an existing trail to Hamilton and Treasure Hill around 1873 (estimate: $1,500-$3,000); and lot #145, a yellow 50-cent trade token for Devil’s Gate Toll Road, built by Riley Armstrong in 1860 and the first toll road into Comstock, very rare and probably dating to the 1860s or the 1870s (estimate: $1,200-$2,000).

Lot #103 is a scarce Aurora, Nevada celluloid trade token for Henry Lewis’s saloon, opened in the 1890s thru 1907. The obverse reads “H. Lewis / Aurora, Nev. / Good for $1”. The reverse says, “Drink Jesse Moore AA Whiskey (estimate: $600-$1,200). Lot #188 is a pink celluloid trade token for the Palace Saloon in Goldfield, Nevada, good for 50 cents. Notably, Virgil Earp, the brother of Wyatt Earp, spent time in Goldfield as a “Special Officer” (estimate: $400-$800).

Lot #267 consists of three different denominations of paper trade tokens from the Northern in Rawhide, Nevada, the prominent hotel and saloon in Rawhide run by Tex Rickard, who was partners with Wyatt Earp (estimate: $200-$500). Lot #189 is a red celluloid plastic trade token for The Bank in Goldfield, Nevada (“Good For / 12 ½ Cents / The Bank”). The Bank was owned by Charles Evans, who owned a gold nugget the size of a deck of cards (estimate: $200-$400).

Here is a link to the auction on iCollector.com:
https://www.icollector.com/Jack-Haddock-Nevada-Town-Token-Collection-Auction_as119280

This is a special sale, as Fred Holabird is retired and the old company is no longer in business. There will, however, be special sales from time to time, including the Tom Westervelt mining artifact and American mining stock collection, now slated for 2027. Fred Holabird is no longer accepting random consignments, but he will consider very special collections as time permits.

Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC may be reached by phone, at 1-844-492-2766, or 775-851-1859; and via email, at [email protected]. To learn more, please visit www.holabirdamericana.com. Updates are posted frequently.