Rare Slave Hire Badges to be Offered at Auction!

Dallas, Texas: Slavery is one of the darkest realities of America's past; a subject not often comfortably or openly discussed. The historical reality, however, is that slavery was an accepted practice in various parts of the United States for many years, especially in the South. In Charleston, South Carolina, slavery had been a way of life from its founding by English colonists in 1670 until a certain February day in 1865, a day that victorious Union soldiers entered, occupied, and emancipated the city, bringing freedom to a people who hadn't known it for nearly two hundred years.

"The slavery system flourished in most southern cities during the 19th century," said Michael Riley, Chief Cataloger for Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries, "but, in general, less than one-third of southern white families owned slaves. Many of the others would hire slave labor on an 'as-needed' basis from nearby slaveholders. This custom could prove very profitable for the master, especially if his slaves had special skills that were in demand. Various cities had laws on the books regulating this practice but Charleston, through which more slaves were imported than any other city, has the distinction of being the only city with a slave hire system accompanied by the issuance of what are often called 'slave tags.'"

"Charleston had a system whereby a slaveholder could pay a license fee, good for one year at a time, on a sliding scale based on occupation," said Riley. "In return, he would receive a copper tag or badge for each slave registered containing four pieces of information: the city (Charleston), a serial number, the date (year), and an occupation. The master was then allowed to hire that slave out to private individuals, businesses, or even the municipal government with the proviso that the slave would wear the badge at all times when on one of these hire out jobs and that the slave could only perform the function he was licensed to perform. In this way, the city made thousands of dollars a year in badge fees, the slaveholders made extra money for hiring out slaves that they had no work for at the time, and the slaves themselves were often allowed to keep part of their outside wages, plus they were given a certain amount of freedom in exchange for their skills."

"There were several occupations found on these slave tags," Riley said. "'Servant' is the most common, with approximately 60% of the surviving badges bearing that designation. The next most common is 'Porter,' at roughly 20% of the extant examples. These were considered unskilled or semi-skilled trades and the licensing fees were much lower than the rest. The most 'common' of the skilled occupations is 'Mechanic,' which accounts for only 10% of known badges. The rarest, by far, are 'Fruiterer,' 'Carpenter,' and 'Fisherman.' Others are thought to have been issued, but no confirmed examples survive."

"Slave-related memorabilia is a large and popular collecting area," said Riley. "It's interesting to note that these badges are really the only things a collector can own that can absolutely be guaranteed to have been owned and worn by a slave. We can also know the year it was used, and the occupation of the slave wearing it."

"However," Riley warns, "as in many popular collectibles categories, fake and phony slave badges abound on the Internet. There are a few guidelines to remember when considering a purchase of one of these: First and most important: If it's not from Charleston or Charleston Neck - a suburb that issued their own badges for two years in 1849 & 1850 ? it's definitely not real. No tag from any other city has ever been confirmed to be authentic. All badges that are completely engraved or incuse (no raised letters) are fakes. If it's made of lead or tin, it's not real - genuine badges are made of copper. All genuine badges are dated between 1800 and 1865, inclusive. Needless to say, all of the badges being offered in Heritage's upcoming Political Memorabilia & Americana auction are 100% authentic."

"In this auction," Riley explained, "we're offering one of the largest collections of these Charleston slave hire badges in existence. There are thirty-three badges in this collection and, considering that there are only a very few hundred of these known to exist - with many of those in museums - this is a major event. Not only are a large number of badges on offer, but we are pleased to present many very rare examples, including two from Charleston Neck, seldom-seen "Fruiterer" occupation badges, and even single-digit serial numbers! Anyone with the slightest interest in American history will want to participate in this landmark auction, which is surely going to be one for the history books!"

Heritage Auction Galleries will offer the Charleston and Charleston Neck Slave Hire Badges in their upcoming Political Memorabilia and Americana Signature auction, to be held June 7 & 8, 2006 at their headquarters in Dallas, TX.

1815 Charleston FRUITERER Slave Hire Badge. Number 109.

1850 Charleston Neck FRUITERER Slave Hire Badge. Number 7.

1824 Charleston MECHANIC Slave Hire Badge. Number 103.

1863 Charleston SERVANT Slave Hire Badge. Number 353.

For more information about Heritage's auctions, and a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit www.HeritageAuctions.com.

Prospective consignors and sellers of political memorabilia, Americana, and related collectibles are invited to visit www.HeritageAuctions.com/Americana and click on the "Sell Now" tab. Or simply email Tom Slater at TomS@HeritageAuctions.com.

To reserve your copy of any Heritage auction catalog, please contact Nicole Jewell at 1-800-872-6467, ext. 272, or visit www.HeritageAuctions.com to order by email.