This treasure rewrote California history. It was an elaborate hoax
Herbert Bolton died believing his plate was the genuine article Share Updated: 4:04 PM PST Mar 1, 2021 By Katie Dowd/SF Gate KCRA
Herbert Bolton died believing his plate was the genuine article Share Updated: 4:04 PM PST Mar 1, 2021 By Katie Dowd/SF Gate Beyrle Shinn, a 26-year-old department store clerk from Oakland, knew how to look on the bright side.While on a Bay Area drive one day in 1936, his car began to shudder. A tire had gone flat. This was no disaster for Shinn, who pulled over near San Rafael and decided, on account of the nice weather, to go for an impromptu hike. He headed up a bluff overlooking San Quentin prison, shimmying beneath a barbed wire fence for a better view of the bay beyond.This was nice. But Shinn decided it would be even nicer to roll rocks down the steep incline. As he searched the ground for rocks, he noticed a flat metal pl