Original slave auctioneer trade token of W. W. Wilbur. Charleston, South Carolina, 1846. Diam. 27 mm.

Obverse depicts an auctioneer with gavel at center with the concentric perimeter legends: "W.W. Wilbur, Auction & Commision Merchant, 18346 / Charleston. So.Ca.". Reverse with a palmetto tree at center with the concentric perimeter legends: "Merchants & Manufacturerers Agent / Collection Broker Notary Public &c." This example has a copper finish.

William W. Wilbur was a well-known and aggressive auctioneer who operated in the pre-Civil War years in Charleston, South Carolina. Among the items he is documented to have sold include utensils and cutlery, books and stationary, tea and coffee, fruit trees, flowers, real estate and land, dry goods, estate sales, and enslaved men, women, and children. Tokens such as these were a common form of marketing one’s business or trade in the 19th Century, especially 

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