DoranHashemi
Full Member
- Mar 12, 2013
- 138
- 31
- Detector(s) used
- White's Spectra V3i
- Primary Interest:
- Relic Hunting
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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
My elderly and temporarily road-fatigued brain forgot to include the photo of FAKE slave-tags I mentioned in my previous post. Here's the photo. It shows some of the many variations of fakes.
Besides being an incorrect shape, some of these have an incorrect lettering-style. None of the genuine slave-tags have non-serifed ("plain block") lettering. For anybody here who doesn't already know the difference between serifed letters and "plain block" letters, compare the lettering on the Kings Farm one with the Mobile one. But remember, all four in the photo are fakes.
Anytime a relic is worth $1,000+ (or even $100), some people are going to come out the woodwork to manufacture fakes of it. Collectors must learn to identify the fakes in whatever subject-area of relics they collect.
A question to the experts, I was wondering if any of the "Fake" and or "Fantasy" slave tags could've been made by a slave/s in the proper time frame to be use during an attempt to escape slavery??