Two (2) slave identification buttons used by Thomas Porter II (1790-1857) to identify the individuals he enslaved. Including: 

1. Excavated "TP" slave identification button. Copper alloy. Lacking loop shank. Reverse reads: "FINE ORANGE STANDARD GILT." Diam. 18mm.

2. Excavated "T Porter" slave identification button. Cast pewter. [England]: I. Nuttinn & Son, ca 1805-1840. Maker's mark to reverse. Diam. 20mm.

These rare cast pewter button which would have been sewn to the shirt of an enslaved person to identify that he was owned by Thomas Porter II (1790-1857), whose family attained immense wealth through its cotton plantations in British Guyana. After the emancipation of slaves in Guyana in 1834, the family received compensation for over 1,000 enslaved individuals. 

Porter continued to traffic in slaves, operating in Barbados and sending enslaved individuals to Charleston, South Carolina, for auction. The quantity of known buttons and recovery at U.S. sites suggests that the buttons were placed on the garments of slaves not only personally enslaved by Porter, but also on individuals in preparation for their sale at auction. 

Known examples of both iterations, including an example excavated in Georgia, are held in the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (2009.32.2 & 2009.32.4). 

[African Americana, African American History, Black History, Slavery, Enslavement, Abolition, Emancipation] [Currency, Tokens, Medals, Numismia, Numismatics, Exonumia, Bonds, Coins, Banknotes]