19th century handcuffs, need help authenticating

[Darby]

Hello everyone. Need some help on authenticating these, if possible. They were given to a friend of mine and supposedly found in old house downtown Charleston, SC. Since she gave them to him, don't think she would lie about where they came from. There are no marks that I can find and not sure if there is any way to truly know if they are from the slave era. Any help will be appreciated!

 

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[cw0909]

Darby,im including my key word search term, handcuff collecting
here are 3 links, for research
there are more with the key search, there is a co. Darby that makes cuffs

Handcuffs.Org
https://www.blacksteel.com/hcs/index.cgi?section=Collection
Alex Nichols Handcuff Collection

 

[Darby]

Darby,im including my key word search term, handcuff collecting
here are 3 links, for research
there are more with the key search, there is a co. Darby that makes cuffs

Handcuffs.Org
https://www.blacksteel.com/hcs/index.cgi?section=Collection
Alex Nichols Handcuff Collection

Thanks cw0909, good info. Can't believe there is a Darby style handcuff! How weird! Thanks again for the reply.

 

[Reanm8er]

Could be criminal or slave either one and the same!

 

[ToddsPoint]

I would join the American Civil War Forum https://civilwartalk.com/ and post pics there. Amazing researchers there will get to the bottom of whether they are slave shackles or not. I'm no expert, but those things look old and authentic, slave or common criminal. Cuffs are slightly mismatched size wise like made by a blacksmith. Pretty impressive. Pretty scary. Gary

 

[Bruce R]

Certainly hand-wrought.

 

[Darby]

I would join the American Civil War Forum https://civilwartalk.com/ and post pics there. Amazing researchers there will get to the bottom of whether they are slave shackles or not. I'm no expert, but those things look old and authentic, slave or common criminal. Cuffs are slightly mismatched size wise like made by a blacksmith. Pretty impressive. Pretty scary. Gary

Thanks Gary. Good site, be nice to know how old they are, but not having any markings I really doubt we can. Thanks again for your input.

 

[Darby]

Certainly hand-wrought.

Thanks Bruce, yes definitely look like made by hand.

 

[Darby]

Could be criminal or slave either one and the same!

Thanks for the reply! Was hoping there would be some sort of characteristic that would help with dating them but so far no luck. Thanks again for your input!