Jackpot! This August, Heritage Offers Hundreds of Uncirculated Morgan Dollars From the Tahoe Tavern Casino
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DALLAS, Texas (July 27, 2023) – In 1947 the owner of one of Lake Tahoe’smost luxurious hotels and casinos sent his sons on a bank run for moresilver dollars. They returned from their routine run with bags filled withcoins to be used in the casino’s slot machines. Except the boys and thecoins never made it as far as the casino floor. Upon their return, thefellows from the Tahoe Tavern Casino discovered their sacks of silver werefilled mostly with uncirculated Morgan dollars from the Carson City Mint!
Because never forget: The house always wins.
Seventy-six years later, that jackpot heads to auction for the very firsttime: On Aug. 14, Heritage is thrilled to presentThe Tahoe Tavern Casino Collection U.S. Coins Showcase Auction, which consists of 286 Morgan dollars – a vast majority of which date tothat fortuitous bank run in the summer of ’47.
“The lots in this auction are completely fresh to the collecting community,”says Heritage Auctions President Greg Rohan. “Everything about these Morgandollars is historic: Most hail from the Carson City Mint, which issignificant as they’re among the most collected Morgan dollars. They comefrom the Tahoe Tavern, a landmark in Tahoe’s development as a touristdestination. And it’s extraordinarily rare when you get a hoard like this,and this is the biggest one Heritage has handled in a long, long time.”
Among these coveted coins from Carson City by way of Tahoe are numerous 1879Morgan dollars, among the most challenging from the Carson City Mint becauseof their scant mintage (only 756,000). Among the highlights:This lustrous MS62 examplepossesses a sharp central strike, making it a beautiful – and highlyin-demand – specimen.
Here, too, are myriad Morgans from 1893, the year the Carson City Mintceased operations – and a decade before it closed altogether after servingits final days as a U.S. Assay Office. One of this auction’s mostsought-after offerings isthis MS62 example, a Far Date variety with slight punching at the top ofthe “3” in the date. This offering is a well-struck example, with attractive gold and blueobverse toning and a brilliant reverse.
The origin story of this hoard only sounds like a tall tale, perhapsappropriate given the Tahoe Tavern’s deep roots amid the pine, cedar andtall firs atop and along the shores of Lake Tahoe.
Timber and mining magnate Duane L. Bliss, a Massachusetts man whogold-rushed his way to San Francisco, wanted to capitalize on the influx ofCalifornians summer vacationing in Lake Tahoe. So he had his son, architectWalter Danforth Bliss, design what became the sprawling luxe hideaway calledthe Tahoe Tavern, which opened in 1902 and quickly expanded into an imposing450-room resort complete with a bowling alley (which later turned into amovie theater), a doctor’s office, a barber shop and a ballroom – and, ofcourse, the casino.
The Tahoe Tavern changed hands a few times upon its completion, and in 1946brothers John and A.J. Flagg, real-estate developers and restaurateurs fromNorthern California, bought the resort. They owned it for just one year –but it was a lucky year.
Sometime in the summer of ’47, John’s son Marvin and A.J.’s son Morgan – oh,the coincidence – drove 15 miles north from Tahoe City to Truckee to securethose silver dollars. When the Flaggs realized their score, the Morgandollars were split between John and A.J.
The coins have remained in the family ever since. Until now.
Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction housefounded in the United States, and the world’s largest collectiblesauctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, BeverlyHills, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam, Brusselsand Hong Kong.
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