I am running two auctions that end tonight that feature the personal chips of the owners of the 1928-1935 famous Agua Caliente Hotel and Casino, one of the most famous resorts in the world at that time!

What initially impressed me about these die-cut chips is that they could be traced to the U. S. Playing Card Co. records (USPC Co. was the manufacturer of the chips) which showed that they were shipped to Tijuana, Mexico, in 1928. There was the Agua Caliente Hotel and Casino, Tijuana, Mexico, a lavish playground for the rich and famous (including the Hollywood elite) when Prohibition and other laws made gambling and drinking illegal in the U.S. Tijuana is just a stone's throw (18 miles) from the California-Mexico border. The Agua Caliente race track had the highest purses in the world, for example.

I read about the times and the three famous "Border Barons" ( Baron Long [his birth name], James Crofton and Wirt Bowman,) who controlled the vices on both sides of the border, but mainly in Mexico. They built, owned and ran the Agua Caliente. Putting a number of facts together I realized that the JC and BL chips were personal chips of two of the Border Barons -- James Crofton and Baron Long. More than the initials matched. The USPC records showed that the AC roulette chips were shipped to the Agua Caliente Co. in Tijuana. The JC and BL chips were shipped on the same May 22, 1928 day to the Baja California Co in Tijuana. I had purchased the JC and BL chips along with well-known Agua Caliente roulette chips. According to Prof. Paul Vanderwood, the author of "Satan's Playground," a book about the Border Barons, Agua Caliente and those times, he confirmed to me that the Border Barons owned both companies (Agua Caliente Co. and the Baja California Co.), and he said: "On the chips, "JC" is most definitely the baron, James Crofton, who was in charge of the casino operation at the spa. "BL" was Baron Long, also one of the entrepreneurs."

All these facts, quotes and USPC chip records are pictured and presented in my two auctions for the JC and BL chips.

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1928 Agua Caliente,Tijuana,Baja CA,Mexico:owner chip JC -- personal chip of James Crofton:gambling-vice border boss
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150479194270

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1928 Agua Caliente,Tijuana,Baja Calif: owner's chip BL -- personal chip of Baron Long,gambling-vice border boss
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150479196419

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Happy bidding,
Robert
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Piper Laurie (left), Tyrone Power and Julie Adams in "Mississippi Gambler" (1953). The person who listed this on eBay said, "You are bidding on a 8x10 HIGH QUALITY COPY NEGATIVE FROM THE ORIGINAL STILL as shown - {it has been inverted for the auction } - the negative is perfect - the light intensity may look brighter than the actual negative - i do not scan these i use a lightboard to take digital images. "
http://www.antiquegamblingchips.com/stillsHollFemaleStars.htm