🥇 BANNER CHARLESTON SLAVE TAG!!!

[Darby]

Stopped by our new site yesterday afternoon for a quick hunt and man am I glad I did! Hit the plowed area first and didn't find anything so I moved into the thicker grass area where it's harder to get the coil down but hadn't been worked as hard. Found two flat buttons and then got a good high signal and thought maybe it might be my turn to find a coin. Disappointed to see it was just a piece of copper plate, I thought. Then I saw it had numbers on it. Still didn't realize what it was until my buddy handed it back to me and at a glance I see "servant"! Taking a closer look it hits me....I just found a slave tag!! It's bent but you can see Charleston at the top with a number, servant under that and below servant the date 1855 (855 is visible, cant see the 1). I'm so thankful and feel really blessed to dig this piece of history. Super excited too. Couldn't wait to get to the















office this morning to post. Thanks for looking!

 

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[Gary1963]

Awesome find! Voting banner.

 

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[MackDog]

My vote is in too congrats on such history

 

[treblehunter]

Great find, very historical.

 

[Hendo0601]

Banner banner banner. Such an incredible find!!!!

 

[slowwevo]

I thought yours looked exactly like mine,but the difference is yours says 1855 and servant,mine says 1856 and porter,congrats on a cool piece

 

[wv hilljack]

WOW! WOW! The great digs just keep coming. Banner!!!!

 

[flatbutton]

Awesome piece! Banner for sure. My vote is in!

 

[swolfe]

awesome! banner!!!

 

[RJ55]

Great find, Banner!

 

[cbxjon]

A great find and rare to. With the site being so far from Charleston. I vote banner. Still, you need to work detector dance.

 

[Tnmountains]

Holy cow what a significant piece of history! Great save. Congratulations!

 

[CRUSADER]

Congrats, on the banner, is there anyway to research the number (2176)?

 

[Darby]

Thanks everyone for your replies and votes! It's nice to show your finds to friends who also get excited about it! Thanks again!

 

[Darby]

Congrats, on the banner, is there anyway to research the number (2176)?

Thanks Crusader. Im looking into that and Will keep y'all posted.

 

[DiggityDiggity]

Should be fairly easy to search. If the number doesn't provide anything, searching the slave deeds by the plantation owner will do the trick. Good luck Darby! If you find anything significant I hope you'll enlighten us!

 

[Darby]

A great find and rare to. With the site being so far from Charleston. I vote banner. Still, you need to work detector dance.

Thanks Jon! I did the dance you just showed up a little too late to see it!! You need to post pics of your one cent piece, thats also a great find.

 

[DCMatt]

Awesome find.

Your badge appears to be made by William O'Connor:

From the book "Slave Badges and the Slave-Hire System in Charleston, South Carolina, 1783-1865"

1855: Charleston Slave Hire Badge Size: 51.5mm x 51.5mm. This year saw a new person win the contract to make badges. His name was William O’Connor, silversmith. This rare MECHANIC is typical of the less than quality workmanship that just about all 1855 badges possess. He didn’t even take the time to make an even diamond shape or clip the corners. His punched individual numbers and the date of 1855 are usually the most discernible parts of his badges. Fortunately for collectors he only had the contract that one year.

DCMatt

 

[Darby]

Awesome find.

Your badge appears to be made by William O'Connor:

From the book "Slave Badges and the Slave-Hire System in Charleston, South Carolina, 1783-1865"

DCMatt

Good info. Thanks DCMatt! Still trying to research and any info is much appreciated!

 

[rock]

That's something you don't see everyday, Congrats

 

[DCMatt]

From the web site of "Dr. Lori" - Antiques appraiser, author, and TV host:

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.

Slave Tags | Dr. Lori Ph.D. Antiques Appraiser

DCMatt