(c.1790) Tk 1/2D DH-1039a Middlesex, Slave, BN AU58BN 认证号39744277, PCGS号526349

In 1787, the Wedgwood ceramics firm issued a cameo medallion featuring a kneeling and shackled Black man with the inscription, "Am I not a man and a brother?" The medallions became something of a fashion accessory, framed or mounted into brooches and buckles. Given Wedgwood's commercial focus, it is revealing that the medallions were not for sale, but were handed out at abolitionist meetings. After its adoption as the seal of the London-based Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, the image became an emblem of the antislavery movements in Britain, France, and the United States. In 1788, Josiah Wedgwood sent a packet of his medallions to Benjamin Franklin, then president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, with the words “It gives me great pleasure to be embarked on this occasion in the same great and good cause with you, and I ardently hope for the final completion of our wishes.” Also in 1788, the Abolition of Slavery in the English Colonies began when a bill limiting the number of slaves carried on each ship passed, by the British House of Commons. From 1792-1799 bills were introduced & it wasn’t until 1807 that a bill was passed to abolish slavery. Slaves throughout the British Colonies were all freed by 1834. That same year, leaders of the Abolitionist Movement, principally Quakers, issued this Copper Token which was widely circulated to promote the cause. English copper anti-slavery halfpenny tokens, also known as Conder or 18th Century Provincial tokens, were commissioned by the Quaker’s Society For Effecting the Abolition Of The Slave Trade. References Guyatt, M. “The Wedgwood Slave Medallion,” Journal of Design History, 13, no. 2 (2000): 93-105 Myers, S. ‘Wedgwood’s Slave Medallion and its Anti-Slavery Legacy’