(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION) SOUTH CAROLINA Slave Tag for a Serva

Sale 2271 - Lot 22

Price Realized: $ 1,320

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000

(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) SOUTH CAROLINA. Slave Tag for a "Servant." Stamped copper, approximately 1-3/4 inches square with the number "853" and the word "Servant" punched into the center. At the top "Charleston" at the bottom, "1863". Charleston, 1863

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rare slave tag from charleston, sc "Slave tags" were used as a manner of keeping track of slave rentals and the collection of taxes, not as identification as some modern dealers have inferred. There were only two places that employed the use of slave tags; Charleston and Charleston Neck. "In Charleston and Charleston Neck, from about 1800 to 1865, the city taxed slaves if they hired out. Slaves for hire in Charleston had to wear a SLAVE TAG, dated annually with the year, the occupation and a serial number (the records have been lost). The Tag was basically a tax receipt, and proved the slave had paid the city to be able to make money" [Richard Harzog, Exunomia]