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1836 Charleston Servant Slave Hire Badge Fine 12 Lightl

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:325.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1836 Charleston Servant Slave Hire Badge Fine 12 Lightl
<B>1836 Charleston Servant Slave Hire Badge Fine 12 Lightly Corroded Uncertified.</B></I> Slave owners in the antebellum South often found it profitable to hire out slaves. In Charleston and Charleston Neck, owners were required to obtain a badge to be worn by the slave. This in effect taxed the practice, to reduce competition with free laborers, and also allowed identification of slaves separated from the lands of their owners. According to Harlan Greene, Harry S. Hutchins, Jr., and Brian E. Hutchins in their standard reference to the slave hire badge series, William M. Rouse was awarded the Charleston badge contract in 1836. Greene <I>et al</B></I> state, "his diamond-shaped badges ... [have] small dots ... around the stamped occupations. ... He ... stamped all his information, except for the badge number which he punched. The first line ... was "Charleston"; the second was "1836"; the third, occupation, then badge number." The present piece conforms to the preceding. As always, the badge is uniface, has clipped corners, and has a small hole at the top for wearing. The numerals in the badge number, 2172, are individually punched. This concave piece is medium brown aside from mildly corroded dark brown, copper-red, or aqua areas. Slave hire badges are rare, and are always highly contested when examples appear at auction.<BR><I>From The Troy Wiseman Collection.</B></I>