🥇 BANNER 1833 Slave Tag in Charleston

[DirtStalker]

Went to Charleston to visit my sister this weekend as a late Christmas. Carolina Tom(also known as Coin Kicker) called and said him and Todd Lipe both of the Charlotte Silver Mafia were going down also. Tom asked if I could find us a place to all hunt together on Sunday. I found a place and was there at sunrise on Sunday morning. They wouldn't be at site for a couple hours so I started hunting. 30 minutes later I pulled this Tag out. I called CT/CK and sent him a picture. Come to find out they were an hour away and stopped for gas and hunting an old school. Well I think they made it to the site in record time. I stopped hunting after calling Tom hoping they would find something good. We all drove up to site about the sametime.I finally got to meet Todd. And he is a super guy to hunt with too. I dug a Large Cent and some clad. Tom got a signal and kicked it with his foot but didn't dig it. About 15 minutes later I walked by his kick mark.and got a signal. Up.pops another Large Cent. I tried to explain to Tom unlike up in Charlotte you can't kick the coins out of the ground. We didn't find much else except for a cannonball fragment.But it wasn't from lack of effort. The first pic is like it came out of ground and I'm slowly trying to clean it.



As a side note this piece of history would be lost by the end of summer as construction on some buildings are starting soon

 

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[jewelerguy]

awesome piece of history and a great save from encroaching construction!

 

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[DirtStalker]

Wow Tyler, Congrats on yet another unimaginably great find. I have wanted to find one for so long.

Congrats! It couldn't have have happened to anyone better

Thanks CM you do know I'm still waiting on that replica of that Banner Sundial marked #1 I know the mail is slow but dang

 

[Icewing]

Ya know, I wonder why more of these don't turn up?

State Parks tend to keep this stuff from being unearthed.

 

[Beans]

Being from the Pacific North West, I did not know slaves had tags. Would not have known what it was if I had found it. Would have put it in with the rest of stuff never and thought about it. Thanks for posting and congrats.

 

[DirtStalker]

Being from the Pacific North West, I did not know slaves had tags. Would not have known what it was if I had found it. Would have put it in with the rest of stuff never and thought about it. Thanks for posting and congrats.

Slave Tags or slave badges were used by slaves in and around the well-known seaside and slave trade city of Charleston, SC from the late 1700s to 1865.

Laws

There were laws in place in the early 1800s which allowed slave owners to hire out their slaves. These laws were in place in southern cities including Mobile, Norfolk, New Orleans, and Savannah. But, the only southern city that had a strict regulatory method for keeping track of these slaves was Charleston. One requirement known only to slaves in Charleston related to the use of slave tags, which are highly collectible today.

Slave owners could rent out the services of their slaves to others for a fee. Slaves were required to wear a slave tag or identification marker. Fees for the tags, similar to a license, were set based on the abilities and skills of the slave. The registration fee or tax for slave tags brought income to the city of Charleston.

Details on Tag

An authentic slave tag included the city “Charleston” in raised lettering in an arched shape at the top of the tag near a punched out hole for the rope to wear around the slave’s neck. Most slave tags measured approximately 2 inches square and were worn in a diamond orientation. A serial number on the tag was specific to an individual slave. The tag further noted the slave’s occupation and year of issue.

By law, the slave tag must be worn at all times by the slave during the calendar year marked on the tag.
Tags included a one-word description of a slave’s skill such as “servant’. The tax year in raised numbers such as “1829” or “1841” is found on authentic slave tags. Also, an authentic slave tag had a unique serial number for one individual slave only. Most tags were made of copper by silversmiths or blacksmiths with a contract to make tags for the city. Authentic slave tags command from $75 to $3,000 depending on condition, occupation noted on the slave tag, and date of issue.

Conversely, slaves working on the property of their original owner or on a plantation did not have to wear a slave tag.

Authentic Slave Tags

Slave TagAn authentic metal slave tag included the city “Charleston” in raised lettering in an arched shape at the top of the tag near a punched out hole for the rope to wear around the slave’s neck. Most slave tags measured approximately 1 ½ inches square to 2 inches square and worn in a diamond orientation.

Tags included a one-word description of a slave’s skill or occupation such as the common occupations of “porter” and “servant”, and also other skills like “fisher,” “fruiterer”, “furniture maker” or “huckster” (the skill of salesmanship). The tax year in raised numbers such as “1829” or “1841” was also found on authentic slave tags. Also, an authentic slave tag has a unique serial number relating to only one working slave which appeared in incised or hand punched numbers and not raised numbering. The Charleston city records that could have linked slave tags to the slaves who wore them (via the serial number on each tag) vanished after the Civil War.

There are a few known makers of slave tags from Charleston, SC. Specifically, there were two makers of slave tags who had contracts with the city to forge these tags including John Mood who made tags during the 1840s and William M. Rouse who produced them during the 1850s.

Values for slave tags have reached to nearly $20,000 for specialty tags however authentic tags that some to market regularly command thousands of dollars from collectors. Fake tags sell for around $50 each. Values for slave tags range widely depending on condition, authenticity (many are forgeries), noted occupation, and age.

 

[cw0909]

congrads on the banner tylerb, check this link your badge and the one @
link, could have been punched by the same person and maybe same punch
set or at least the same co./person that made the punch set

1833-DATED CHARLESTON SLAVE TAG, "SERVANT". Excellent condition ... | Lot #1967 | Heritage Auctions

 

[payload77]

Sweet

 

[against the wind]

I don't expect to be finding anything like that up in The Bronx.
Incredible! !
Congrats

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Congratulations on making the BANNER, that's one heck of a gorgeous slave tag!

Has to be worth a few bucks too!

Dave

 

[SCdigger]

Sweet tag!

 

[gigispop7]

congratulations! cool find

 

[Beans]

Slave Tags or slave badges were used by slaves in and around the well-known seaside and slave trade city of Charleston, SC from the late 1700s to 1865.

QUOTE]

Thanks for the information. Interesting , and now I understand the significance of the badge you found.

 

[WHADIFIND]

State Parks tend to keep this stuff from being unearthed.

Soooo, they only had slaves on state park land?

 

[Icewing]

Soooo, they only had slaves on state park land?

Don't be so thick headed. Here in Arkansas for example, a lot of historic sites are now State Parks and thus off limits to metal detectors.

 

[WHADIFIND]

Don't be so thick headed. Here in Arkansas for example, a lot of historic sites are now State Parks and thus off limits to metal detectors.

Sorry about my thick head. Born that way, ya know?

Lemme 'splain: I meant, with ALL the land available to hunt and ALL the people who have ever hunted, how's come, more of these haven't turned up?

That help?

 

[DirtStalker]

Sorry about my thick head. Born that way, ya know?

Lemme 'splain: I meant, with ALL the land available to hunt and ALL the people who have ever hunted, how's come, more of these haven't turned up?

That help?

WhatIfind in 1860 the Slave population in SC was 402,000. With the majority of these in the low country. Only a very small percentage of that were Rentedout. While this was a common practice in all Slave states only Charleston required those Rented out to wear these tags.Tags were reused as they were made by copper. Someone found one as a window shim. So with only a small percentage Rented out in Charleston how many actually lost Tags. Real smaller percentage still. Hope that helps answer your question. TBD

 

[WHADIFIND]

WhatIfind in 1860 the Slave population in SC was 402,000. With the majority of these in the low country. Only a very small percentage of that were Rentedout. While this was a common practice in all Slave states only Charleston required those Rented out to wear these tags.Tags were reused as they were made by copper. Someone found one as a window shim. So with only a small percentage Rented out in Charleston how many actually lost Tags. Real smaller percentage still. Hope that helps answer your question. TBF

It most certainly does! I was under the impression that every slave had a tag. It appears that it was only a very small percentage! And, THAT, explains a lot!
Thanks for taking the time to explain. I guess I didn't live far enough south of the Mason-Dixon to understand.

Congrats on your banner again!

 

[DirtStalker]

Sweet tag!

Good luck down there. Knock it out.

 

[Icewing]

Sorry about my thick head. Born that way, ya know?

Lemme 'splain: I meant, with ALL the land available to hunt and ALL the people who have ever hunted, how's come, more of these haven't turned up?

That help?

Sorry I didn't mean to be obtuce, I'll try harder to write out longer explinations for some of my crazy theories, it's just hard to watch all the heavy equipment plowing in bike trails while claiming metal detectorists take away from archeology.

Sorry to the OP, not trying to hijack your thread. That's an awesome find, and might even make for a nice payday.

 

[DirtStalker]

Sorry I didn't mean to be obtuce, I'll try harder to write out longer explinations for some of my crazy theories, it's just hard to watch all the heavy equipment plowing in bike trails while claiming metal detectorists take away from archeology.

Sorry to the OP, not trying to hijack your thread. That's an awesome find, and might even make for a nice payday.

Hijacking= No Problem I usually yell take me to Cuba as I enter threads of OD Cjon Coin Kicker. Vino Bonepicker and EricinNJ
if you need to get it off your chest feel free brother and we all face that problem more and .more each year