World Tokens, the Property of a North Country Collector

St Bartholomew, LA GRANDE SALINE, salt token by Katz, c. 1935-1948, W. BEAL, rev. BON POUR UN BARIL DE SEL, 19mm (Eckardt, TAMS Journal December 1987; Roehrs 1248; Ford 672; Tankersley 369). About very fine with some surface corrosion
£40-£60

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, World Tokens, the Property of a North Country Collector.

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Provenance: ex. K. V. Eckardt, 1976

From a small hoard of these pieces found by K. V. Eckardt at the salt ponds of La Grande Salines, in August 1975.

The swamp lands at La Grande Salines were first exploited for salt during the Swedish occupation of the island, but because prices could not compete with salt harvested from other islands the trade collapsed in 1872. Taken over by France, the French government incentivised those on St. Barts to restart the business, but after a hurricane in 1924 trade collapsed until William Beal took over the concession in the early 1930’s. The largely female workforce worked an oppressive salt harvesting ‘season’ of 3 months. The trade ceased in 1972