Rare Grateful Dead Items From Band’s Attorney Head to Auction

A collection of rare Grateful Dead items owned by the legendary jam band’s late attorney will hit the auction block later this month.

Stremmel Auctions in Reno, Nevada will conduct the sale of dozens of Dead-related items starting November 22nd. The collection belonged Hal Kant, the band’s longtime attorney that they dubbed “The Czar,” and his wife Jesse Kant. Hal Kant died in Reno in 2008.

Among the more notable items include a series of stage banners from the Grateful Dead’s 25th anniversary tour in 1989 painted by the artist Jan Sawka; Kant’s extensive collection of Sawka paintings and murals is also up for auction.

An invitation to Jerry Garcia’s Valentine’s Day 1994 wedding to Deborah Koons, along with a preserved rose from Garcia, will also hit the auction block.

Other items include a Grateful Dead letterman jacket that the band made especially for Kant in 1990, a “LimitDead Edition” staff bag signed by Alice Cooper, a “Legally Dead” watch, art prints signed by Garcia plus all-access passes, Dead concert posters and other ephemera.

“I spent my time very happily and grateful with all of these items, and it was time to let someone else enjoy all of these items that I have spent my life with,” Jesse Kant told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Earlier this year, Jerry Garcia’s famed “Wolf” guitar, his go-to instruments for over two decades, sold at auction for $1.9 million.