Reno, NV, USA, February 27, 2023 — The second and final auction of never-before-offered, historic California Gold Rush jewelry and other artifacts recovered from the 1857 sinking of the fabled “Ship of Gold,” the S.S. Central America, will be held on March 4 and 5, 2023. It will be conducted in Reno, Nevada and online by Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC (www.HolabirdAmericana.com).
“This is the last opportunity for collectors to acquire previously unoffered, historic artifacts from what Life magazine proclaimed, ‘America’s greatest treasure.’ The 420 lots in the auction represent an incredible time capsule of the California Gold Rush era,” said Fred Holabird, president of Holabird Western Americana Collections.
One of the important items is a large gold quartz engraved brooch that prominent San Francisco businessman Sam Brannan — California’s first millionaire — was sending to his son, Sam Brannen Jr., in Geneva, Switzerland, as a gift to the son’s teacher. Biographer Milton Balch described Brannan (1819 – 1889) as “a gambler, and a banker, merchant and hotel owner, importer and exporter, gold digger and real estate speculator.”
The brooch is described as: Large 18-K gold brooch consisting of a buckle-like piece at the top from which hangs a 28 x 24 x 4 mm piece of gold-bearing white quartz set in a hinged mount so the stone can rotate on a horizontal axis to see both sides. Overall length of the brooch is 77 x 48 mm. The presence of the buckle suggests that it may have held a colored ribbon of some sort which then draped behind and below the stone to highlight it. The back of the buckle is engraved “A. Roediger / from his little pupil / Sam Brannan Jr. / California.”
All items in the auction are being offered unreserved. For additional information, visit Holabird Western Americana Collections of Reno, Nevada at www.HolabirdAmericana.com, call 775-851-1859, or email [email protected].
