 1812 Charleston Slave Hire Badge. FISHER. No.67. LAFAR in a prepared, rectangular punch on the back. Appearance of sharp Very Fine in places. Octagonal but very nearly diamond shaped, with four very long and four extremely short sides. Holed for suspension. 197.6 gns. 58.8 mm. x 60.5 mm. *CHARLESTON* in a prepared lunate punch at the top. No. in a prepared, square punch, 67 hand engraved. FISHER in a prepared, rectangular punch underneath. 1812 in a rectangular logotype punch below. Light brown in color with traces of verdigris. Quite rough in places. Slightly dished, the front bowed towards the viewer, believed to add additional strength to the badge when worn. Extremely rare. This is one of the rarest of all occupations. Mr. West's Fisher badge is one of the earliest known with this occupation. There are two known dated 1807 and the Charleston Museum has another dated 1812 as this one.
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