A 4.51 troy ounce Alaska Gold Rush gold nugget from the Atlin mining district, located just east of Skagway in Yukon, Alaska, climbed to $10,845, and an oil-on-board painting of two miners on mules loaded with various items, titled Panhandlers, signed by Texas artist William Forrest Martin, realized $8,540 at Holabird Western Americana Collections massive, five-day Holiday Treasures Auction held Dec. 5 through the 9. The auction was packed with a staggering 4,379 lots in a wide array of collecting categories, including Western Americana, railroadiana, gold, minerals, music memorabilia, mining, art, Native Americana, militaria, aviation, postal history, coins, tokens and more, held online and live in the gallery at 3555 Airway Drive (Suite #308) in Reno, Nevada. The painting and gold nugget were the two lop lots in a sale that grossed $270,272. Over 5,000 registered bidders participated online. Day one was the sales busiest day, in terms of the sheer number of categories. These included art, militaria, Native Americana, firearms and weapons, general Americana, autographs, antiquarian books, bottles, clothing, comic books, cowboy collectibles, ephemera, entertainment industry, furnishings, gaming, jewelry, maps, music and photography. Also offered were political memorabilia, postcards, saloon/beer/tobacco, spoons, tools, toys, Wells Fargo/Express, Worlds Fair/Expositions, coins and tokens. A top achiever was the original 1909 poster mounted on linen promoting Pawnee Bills Great Far East combined with Buffalo Bills Wild West ($4,375). The 30-by-40-inch framed poster advertised the brief partnership between Gordon William Lillie (aka Pawnee Bill) and the legendary Buffalo Bill. A Parsons & Co. Assayers (Colorado) gold ingot, one of four known examples, marked 1860 and Twenty Dolls, changed hands for $3,615. It most certainly would have brought more if it could be proved the ingot was real, but it cant because there is no provenance for that one or the other three either. Still, two of the four are in museums (one is in the Smithsonian). Not much is known or documented regarding Parsons, who operated out of a remote mine in Colorado. A group of 40 ancient Chinese coins, dating to hundreds of years B.C., went for $3,500. These included a Nose or Ghost-head bronze imitation of cowrie shell, used from 700-200 B.C. throughout central and eastern ancient China. Eleven were unattributed. Also, a vintage, one-of-a-kind Navajo necklace and earrings set, featuring a 32-inch-long Naja pendant with six stones (possibly Royston turquoise) with silver beads, and matching clip-on earrings, rose to $1,562. Day two featured stocks and bonds (mining stocks, petroliana stocks and other stocks), railroadiana, transportation, minerals and mining, 737 lots in all. The Yukon / Skagway gold nugget sold in this session. Also sold was a one-share free trading stock certificate from 1856 for the Minnesota Mining Co., the first mine in Ontanogan County, Mich. The certificate, signed by Joseph Henry de Palma (Pres.) and James D. Mansfield (Treas.), finished at $4,250. Day three contained 957 lots of art, militaria, Americana, antiquarian books, bottles, clothing, cowboy, ephemera, fire, entertainment industry, fraternal organizations, gaming items, maps, photography, political, postcards, saloon/beer/tobacco, signs, spoons, tools, toys, Wells Fargo/Express and Worlds Fair and Expositions and foreign. Day four had Native Americana, minerals, mining, numismatics, tokens, postal history, sport and transportation, 750 lots in all. Day five concluded the event with 1,227 lots of stocks and bonds, automobilia, aviation, industrial, mining, petroliana, railroadiana, transportation and other. For those unable to attend the auction in person, online bidding was facilitated by the platforms iCollector.com, LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com, AuctionMobility.com and Auctionzip.com. Telephone and absentee bids were also accepted. For additional information, call Fred Holabird at 775-851-1859 or 844-492-2766 or email fredholabird@gmail.com.