Posted 7 years ago
smswapp
(2 items)
About the size of a quarter. Scalloped aluminum. This is the only one in existence that has been found.
There is rumored to be a few 10 cent versions that are claimed to have been found, but I have not seen one. These are claimed to be round and not as ornate as this version.
Owner W.A. Foster (as printed on the token) is in the 1907 census as the restaurant owner (La Jolla Cafe) in La Lolla California.
The Token was found near an old, abandoned mining town site called Hart, California.
W.A. Foster is listed as a miner in the 1910 census in Hart, CA. The town is claimed to have been abandoned by 1909.
I found some added info. The La Jolla Cafe was located within the bathhouse on the beach. The bathhouse burned down in 1905....Foster must have said "screw it" I'm heading to Hart to mine!
I found a photo of the bathhouse as well. La Jolla trade tokens are rare, this one seems to a one of a kind ever found.