Slave tag

[DoranHashemi]

Old man showed us this. I almost fainted. Looks like a slave tag. He said it was. He's been detecting for 30 years and found this in South Carolina Any experts?

 

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[Treasure_Hunter]

I suggest the insults and soap opera stop..

 

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[recondigger]

I suggest the insults and soap opera stop..

I agree ! Lets not fight over buttons and badges

 

[CoilyGirl]

I agree ! Lets not fight over buttons and badges

Agreed.

 

[Jimmi]

Don't kid yourself. Look up "black memorabilia" or "black Americana" on the internet. It is a HUGE business. It IS about history, to be sure. And ugly or not it is still history. But people like Oprah, Spike Lee, Bill Cosby, Whoopi Goldberg, and Billy Dee Williams also collect because this stuff is worth BIG $$$$.

DCMatt

I do see your point. But then again, they are black, and it is their history. Also I think they probably have more sentimental reasons for wanting them. And it's not cause of a price tag .
Again, I don't expect many to agree with me on this . Admittedly Im not the best judge , I think with my heart n not my head.
I hate even saying this , but for comparrison sakes .... Who should have has the right to hold onto concentration camp memorabelia... The grandchild of a Natzi or the grandchild of a prisoner

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Any collector has the right...

This is " what is it forum" not a forum on slavery, please keep it on topic and leave personal opinions on time period out of forum...


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[DCMatt]

I do see your point. But then again, they are black, and it is their history.

I see it as OUR history. You can't have slaves without slave owners. You can can't have prisoners without keepers of the prison.

I think you are right about to people having a connection to this sort stuff. And I think they should. I have a small collection of things from the WWII Japanese Internment camps. My in-laws were held in Jerome and Gila River from '42 - '45. My collection is mostly for my kids - so they know what happened.

DCMatt

 

[Jimmi]

Any collector has the right...

This is " what is it forum" not a forum on slavery, please keep it on topic and leave personal opinions on time period out of forum...

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Respectfully I hear ya. But my posts were not about slavery , they were comments on the tags and the collection of them.

 

[BuckleBoy]

See if you can get more photos of the back and front side again.. Something like this needs to have more than 1 photo! Slave tags can be found anywhere there was slaves down in SC (Charleston area) and they come in all different sizes and shapes. Slaves that worked for corporate big plantations were known too have to wear them all the time while smaller farms or plantation the slaves didn't need too wear them all the time. Please post what the writing on the artifact says too so you can research it that is what is going to make or break it.

I'll go 1% farther than kuger and say you're 100% wrong about that, HutDigger. They are ONLY associated with Charleston and Charleston Neck. The shape is consistent. Not "all different sizes and shapes." They could perhaps be found "anywhere" but I'd think that the farther away from Charleston you get, the more your chances of finding one go to zero. Thanks for playing.

 

[mical66]

ok so refresh my memory here , i re read all the post this morning . do we think this tag is real and have we given a time ?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Respectfully I hear ya. But my posts were not about slavery , they were comments on the tags and the collection of them.

And your objections were because they were slave related. Forum is for the identification of items found......

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[CC Hunter]

There is so much irony in white men ( I'm taking a leap here, but I think black men would be talking differently about these tags), congratulating one another on finding these tags and discussing their value. It is part of our history, an ugly part of it, the ugliest actually... Money shouldn't be made off a piece of human suffering. Donating them to a museum would be the the respectable thing.

Sadly, the true history of our past is often misunderstood and seemingly based more on popular media hype, TV, and Hollywood movies, rather than actual fact. Having spent years growing up in New York and attending school will intercity blacks, living in Southern California, and also living in many areas of the South, as well as traveling for business throughout numerous states, an interesting point was learned in that the greatest misunderstanding and prejudice generally exists among those living in areas where slavery was never an active part of life a couple centuries ago. The black people I met and became friends with over the years in the South and around Charleston SC, were the kindest, most polite, and caring people one could ever meet anywhere in the world, and treated me and my family as their own family.

There is a huge part of history involving slavery, that is largely overlooked and rarely do the true facts emerge. There were in fact wealthy free blacks that owned slaves as well as native American (Indian) slave owners. During the American Civil War, thousands of black individuals actually fought for the South, on the side of the Confederates, and carried arms that they used to defend their homeland as well.

May I suggest as a beginning to provide better understanding, an excellent book that deals with the history of slavery in one prominent family in South Carolina covering over 300 years of history: SLAVES IN THE FAMILY

Amazon.com: Slaves in the Family (9780345431059): Edward Ball: Books

CC Hunter

 

[CC Hunter]

ok so refresh my memory here , i re read all the post this morning . do we think this tag is real and have we given a time ?

The Slave Hire Badge posted at the beginning of this thread is by all appearances, noting the details of lettering, size, shape, numbers, composition, and soil patina, an authentic CHARLESTON badge issued in 1823, for the occupation of MECHANIC. This would be a copper badge made by John Joseph Lafar, a noted Charleston silversmith and should carry the LAFAR punch mark directly below the year date. The point on fake and fantasy "slave tags" is they almost always get the details wrong in at least a few areas, if not more. From my experience in personally recovering these pieces of history, as well as viewing many authentic Charleston Slave Hire Badges, my consensus is this one is indeed authentic.

CC Hunter

 

[kuger]

!!!Very cool!!!

 

[Bryanhashemi]

Nice!! now that you mention it...i remember reading Lafar on the bottom of the tag. I didnt realize what that was. The old man said it was a french slave tag maker. Was he french?

 

[kuger]

...I love this piece on Provenance!!!Something I have tried to stress on here!!!!

Slave Tags

 

[CC Hunter]

...I love this piece on Provenance!!!Something I have tried to stress on here!!!!

Regarding the link:
Another well noted and experienced authority on these pieces of history, and a fellow that I've personally met and talked with on several occasions.

 

[DCMatt]

Nice!! now that you mention it...i remember reading Lafar on the bottom of the tag. I didnt realize what that was. The old man said it was a french slave tag maker. Was he french?

No. He was "Southern".



DCMatt

 

[kuger]

No. He was "Southern".



DCMatt

sounds like his mother was French

 

[DCMatt]

sounds like his mother was French

She was also born in Charleston. (1763 - 1849)

DCMatt

 

[kuger]

She was also born in Charleston. (1763 - 1849)

DCMatt