The Hoard ....

THE NEVADA "FITZGERALD" HOARD

The numismatic press has already covered Ron Gullio's
recent purchase of a Nevada casino warehouse hoard
of U.S. silver dollars and other material. Here are a few
excerpts from a June 3 Associated Press article about
the find:

"When coin dealer Ronald J. Gillio gazed in the musty
warehouse on the outskirts of Reno last year, he could
not believe his eyes: Inside were boxes and boxes of
commemorative casino spoons, matches, key chains
and coasters - gambling junk accumulated over decades.

Locked in safes in the warehouse was what he really
was after - bags and bags of silver dollars, more than
100,000 in all. There were also thousands of casino
chips in denominations from $1 to $100, old casino
counting machines, a Seeburg jukebox and three
vintage roulette wheels, including one with a rare
single zero slot.

Gillio, of Santa Barbara, Calif., bought it all - junk and
treasure - for an undisclosed price. The property had
been accumulated by the late Lincoln Fitzgerald, who
at one time owned the Nevada Club in downtown
Reno, the Nevada Lodge at Lake Tahoe and
Fitzgeralds in Reno.

Gillio dubbed the find "the Fitzgerald's hoard."

"Some of the items were displayed in Las Vegas
recently at an antique arms and coin show. Gillio
figures the face value of the coins and chips is about
$500,000.

"It is amazing what some people keep," he said.
"Things other people would throw away, Fitzgerald
kept. I guess he had a sentimental attachment to them.
It took us 60 days to clear out the warehouse."

"In the Fitzgerald stash, he found empty bags from the
Carson City Mint dating to the 1880s. While not
particularly valuable, Gillio figures the bags and other
gambling memorabilia have historical significance for
Nevada.

He plans to donate some items to the Nevada
Historical Society in Reno and the Nevada State
Museum in Carson City, which is in the same building
that housed the mint."