Copper, Badges, and the Periodic Table of DEATH and Mystery

One of the periodic table elements should be “rabbit hole” because I always seem to go down one when I’m doing research.

This article is particularly weird because I’m going to lead you through the workings of my mind for Copper (Cu) from the Latin cuprum, atomic number 29 and one of only a few metals that occur on earth in a usable metallic form (1).

There’s a line in Milagro Beanfield War by John Nichols (1974) that I decided to use as the base for this essay on copper: “What are pennies made out of?…Dirty copper!” which is directed at Kyril Montana, an undercover agent for the state police brought in to stop the “uprising” in Milagro. (BTW, I highly recommend Milagro Beanfield War – the book, not the movie). And I thought, I’ll look at the origination of “copper” and its use for as slang for police. It had to be about copper badges, surely.

Welp, it turns out the term copper is the original British English word that means “someone who captures”, derived from the Latin “capere” and related to the old French word “caper” (2).

But I thought, what the heck. I can still find a story where someone’s badge stopped a bullet and saved their life (3 [skip to 3:45]). So, I Googled “copper badge”.

What came up was Archaeology Magazine’s Top 10 Discoveries of 2021 (4). While conducting excavations at the college of Charleston in South Carolina, students discovered a copper “slave badge” (5) or “slave tag” (6) dated to 1853. These badges were issued annually to enslaved people (from 1800-1865) who had been authorized to work for someone else for a fee. The enslaved person wore the badge for identification in the city of Charleston—the only city to actually issue these badges—and the badge was stamped with their occupation, date, and a registration number. Occupations included: servant, carpenter, blacksmith, fisher, porter, mechanic, fruiterer (7).

But this wasn’t the only copper badge I found associated with enslaved people in Charleston. From 1783-1789, a copper badge with “FREE” stamped on a pileus cap were issued to freed people of color within the Charleston city limits. No dates were stamped on the badge because they were probably valid for life (8).

But what the heck is a pileus cap and why would it be on this badge? Hello Google, my old friend and another dive into a rabbit hole.

First, a pileus is a conical brimless felt cap worn in Ancient Greece, but eventually introduced in Ancient Rome (9). So, let’s head to Ancient Rome to understand why this cap occurred on the FREE copper badge issued in Charleston, South Carolina. It turns out Romans and Roman society built their empire on slavery, and at one point during the Imperial age, slaves even outnumbered freeborn people in Rome, 3:1 (10).

There were numerous processes within Ancient Roman law that were associated with a slave’s manumission (11). One such ceremonial process involved the pileus cap. The enslaved person to be freed would come in front of a magistrate who would touch the slave with a vindicta rod and pronounce them freed. At this point, the freed person’s head would be shaved, and a pileus cap placed upon it. Both the vindicta rod and the pileus cap were symbols of freedom. The FREE copper badge with the pileus hat explained!

One more thing: some of the words I have used in the essay—slaves, people of color, slavery, enslaved, enslavers—may constitute an ongoing change in historical language. I have tried to use the terms respectfully and in no way wanted to provoke outrage in the reader.

As always, these are my own opinions based on my biases, knowledge, and understanding, and the websites I’ve linked are in no way a product endorsement.

How about a suggested song or movie? Movie is easy: Support Your Local Sheriff (1969). The badge scene is hilarious. It’s fun silly movie and sometimes you need that. as your song, I’m sticking with the 1960s to start: Joan Baez and Copper Kettle (1962), but I’m going to add a more controversial song sung by Baez and one of my favorite ever: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (1971). I also love it by The Band. Makes me cry. We just lost Robbie Robertson in 2023.