Need help on a possible tag - perhaps a slave tag?

[pedrod]

Hello,
Just a week ago I was in an old part of our city and had asked a fellow club member what the area we were in had been? I was told that it had old houses and before them this was the part of the city where they kep the blacks when segregation was a real part of our society. (Hard to believe)

Well fast forward a week. I was metal detecting in this old lot and found what I believed to be a dog tag. No big deal, It was not significant find until I got home and put it through electrolysis.

Now I am bewildered at what I have found. If anyone can help me out I would appreciate it.

 

[RelicDigger1]

It's definitely not a slave tag, which were all made in Charleston, SC and are clearly marked. The majority of slave tags were diamond-shaped with a hole punched into the top of that diamond for a suspension string, etc.

As to a heart-shaped piece, I would lean toward a dog tag of some type.

Richard

 

[1859large]

Maybe a token or souvenir from some carnival. Late 1800s early 1900s guessing from the corrosion.

There seem to be letters on the ends of the crossed battons. Certainly an S on the upper left.

Kerry Klub Karnival?

Something like that.

If you use a strong beam of light obliquely across it you might enhance the characters.

HH

1859

 

[GoGoGopher]

Well, the symbols are a trident or pitchfork, and what looks to be a branding iron...could this have been a horse or cow tag of some type, maybe even sheep or swine tag???


HH,

GoGoGopher

 

[olddigger]

Looks to be from the end on a key chain or fob. The KKK is probably Ku Klux Klan. There were a lot of Klan from the early 1900s to the 1950s. Hope this helps.

 

[1859large]

The attachment area is not strong enough for an animal tag. Us humans on the other hand don't try and tear tags off.

I think it is just a charm or souvenir item.

The jokers/jesters hat is the only thing I can identify with certainty. That probably moves it away from being a KKK klan item.

HH

1859

 

[JB(MS)]

Some local KKK in MS and Alabama had tokens, or some kind of symbol, to identify themselves to other members. The one in the photo, if it shows, was found by a friend when we were detecting around an old abandoned church in west Alabama a few years ago. Yours looks to be a something similar, possibly also for ID purposes, for a local KKK group. In the late 1800's and early 1900's pitchforks were used by the KKK in some places in the south as part of their "uniform" and as a scare tatic, and also for more sinister purposes. The other thing looks like a branding iron, the KKK also used those, at least in the deep south, to brand some blacks and also some who they considered to be sympathetic toward blacks. If that's a V in the center it would represent victory. It doesn't look a lot like a V but it has some significance. Your find may not be KKK related, but based on the KKK, pitchfork and branding iron, if that's what it represents, I would almost bet it is.

 

[GoGoGopher]

Maybe a Wannabe KKK clan of local dip#$#@s who got together to talk trash about blacks????


HH,

GoGoGopher

 

[1859large]

The KKK tokens I have seen on the net are well made, clearly marked and are made from thick metal with clear big markings. This object looks like tourist junk not a declaration of membership in a klan.

The joker/jester face with hat doesn't fit with the image of KKK like a burning cross or a hooded horseman would.

HH

1859