Morphy's Plans Lively April 12-14 Vegas Auction Featuring Old West Relics, Coin-Op and Gambling Machines, Pristine Antique Advertising

Featured: Robb cigar store Indian, 1915 prototype Coke bottle, rare Native-American art & implements, rare 1960s arcade booth to 'Record Your Own Voice'

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Morphy Auctions

Apr 09, 2019, 08:55 ET

LAS VEGAS, April 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- All of the authentic Old West elements one would expect to see in a classic John Wayne movie will take center stage at Morphy Auctions' Las Vegas gallery in mid-April. The three-day auction series opens with an April 12 sale of Gold Rush, Western and Native-American Relics featuring 412 lots of exceptional quality and historical importance. On April 13-14, the venue will resonate with the thrilling sounds of antique coin-operated music and gambling machines alongside a sensational array of antique advertising. All forms of bidding will be available, including online through MorphyLive.

Exceptional Samuel Robb cigar store Indian chief, 19th century, all original finish, 78in. tall, Robb studio photo match. Estimate: $70,000-$100,000

Root Glass Co., 1915 prototype bottle submitted to Coca-Cola for consideration to become the standard Coke bottle, one of two known examples and the only one fully intact. Estimate: $100,000-$150,000

Holding court over the April 12 session is a fantastic 78-inch-tall Samuel Robb carved-wood cigar store Indian chief. The full-figure artwork has a lifelike appearance and incomparable, all-natural finish. "We have a Xerox of a photo in which Samuel Robb is standing with two other employees in their New York studio. This very figure appears in the background," said Morphy Auctions president Dan Morphy. With carving attributed to Samuel Robb himself, this late-19th-century gem is estimated at $70,000-$100,000.

During the westward expansion, the transportation of people, mail or valuables called for a stagecoach, perhaps one constructed by the famed Concord Stagecoaches of New Hampshire. A custom-made replica of one of Concord's high-quality coaches is ready to star in any parade or special event, and will be offered with a $30,000-$40,000 estimate.

Nearly 100 examples of Native-American handmade art and relics will cross the auction block. An impressive selection of tomahawks formerly in the Don Euing collection includes a circa-1860s tacked Western Plains-style pipe tomahawk. Another highlight is a circa-1870s Crow fringed-hide rifle scabbard with geometric beading.

Coin-operated amusements will rule the day on April 13, as Morphy's rolls out a tremendous lineup of gambling, musical, vending and arcade-game machines from the 19th/20th centuries. Among the earliest productions is an 1899 Mills Double Dewey musical upright slot machine in oak casing. "Mills spared no expense in the design and execution of this model, which takes nickels on one side and quarters on the other," Morphy noted. Visually appealing with its multicolor tin wheels and ornate nickel casing, it plays a short tune when either wheel spins. Estimate: $60,000-$80,000.

A versatile entertainer, a circa-1920s 5-cent J.P. Seeburg Style 'H' Orchestrion looks like an upright piano in a grand case, but it also plays pipes, drums, a xylophone, castanets and more. Wonderfully maintained, it could make $50,000-$100,000. In the sports category, two baseball-theme arcade machines are poised to knock it out of the park, pricewise. A $40,000-$50,000 estimate accompanies both a 1937 Rock-Ola 5-cent World Series arcade machine and a 1948 H.C. Evans Bat-A-Score machine.

An incredible array of fresh advertising items from three major collections will be auctioned on April 14 and runs the gamut of products from alcohol, tobacco and soft drinks to transportation, barbershop and general store merchandise. An exceptionally rare 1915 modified prototype bottle was created by the Root Glass Company and submitted to Coca-Cola for consideration as their standard Coke bottle. Discovered in the collection of a retired Coca-Cola employee who had worked for Root Glass, it is considered highly important by advanced bottle collectors. Only two bottles of its type are known to exist, Morphy's example being the only one that is intact (n.b., the other bottle sold for $240,000 in 2011). Auction estimate: $100,000-$150,000.

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Contact: Dan Morphy
877-968-8880, [email protected]

SOURCE Morphy Auctions