My three Agua Caliente auctions end today (Thursday) at 5:24 PM (ET). The chips were very desirable in my opinion when I began the auction. As the days passed, I learned new information that makes the chips even better!

The auctions are for these three chips (all the same size, 1-9/16"):

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. And the AC chips are well-known as indisputably being roulette chips from the world famous resort, 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 from the California-Mexico border. The Agua Caliente race track had the highest purses in the world, for example.

Then as the auction progressed, 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. And I purchased all three chips in one lot. 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 three auctions, mainly the JC and BL auctions:
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1928 Agua Caliente CA roulette gambling poker chip:AC15
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150460345624

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new rare 1928 USPC die-cut CJ/JC gambling poker chip
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150460184248

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new rare 1928 USPC die-cut BL/LB gambling poker chip
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150460186514

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