# How much did it cost (in 2004 dollars) to purchase a slave in the antebellum south?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-it-cost-in-2004-dollars-to-purchase-a-slave-in-the-antebellum-south/247980
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 1, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-it-cost-in-2004-dollars-to-purchase-a-slave-in-the-antebellum-south/247980 "2004-06-01T00:33:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-it-cost-in-2004-dollars-to-purchase-a-slave-in-the-antebellum-south/247980/21 "2004-06-03T04:04:47Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#):
>
> The author estimates that there are _27 million people_ enslaved via debt bondage in the world today.
ONLY 27 million!! I thought it was anyone with a mortgage.
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### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-it-cost-in-2004-dollars-to-purchase-a-slave-in-the-antebellum-south/247980/22 "2004-06-03T13:00:51Z")
> [@astro](#):
>
> Well at Sam’s quote of 350/oz X 16 oz = 5600/lb and @ $37,700 for a number one man in 1850 to 2004 conversion numbers, you’d have to have about 6 and 3/4 lbs of gold in 2004 dollar gold equivalent for a first class male field worker.
And that’s where you’d have a conversion problem for 1857, as for a lot of the time between then and the final decoupling of gold to dollars, a dollar’s worth of gold was not something decided by the free market.
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2004, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-it-cost-in-2004-dollars-to-purchase-a-slave-in-the-antebellum-south/247980/23 "2004-06-03T13:17:02Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#):
>
> And that’s where you’d have a conversion problem for 1857, as for a lot of the time between then and the final decoupling of gold to dollars, a dollar’s worth of gold was not something decided by the free market.
How would slaves be paid for? Did the slave buyers have to carry around lots of gold or what? How did they manage large transactions in the days before the ability to instantly verify bank accounts existed? How would you know if a check for a very expensive purchase like a slave or a piece of agricultural machinery was any good before the goods were carted off?
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### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-it-cost-in-2004-dollars-to-purchase-a-slave-in-the-antebellum-south/247980/24 "2004-06-03T14:46:54Z")
> [@astro](#):
>
> Did the slave buyers have to carry around lots of gold or what? How did they manage large transactions in the days before the ability to instantly verify bank accounts existed? How would you know if a check for a very expensive purchase like a slave or a piece of agricultural machinery was any good before the goods were carted off?
(a) Paper money, if applicable in the period
(b) Letter of credit from a reputable bank, either a local one or one with which the local banker had a good relationship of trust. Also, remember that in those times the various parties in direct contact with one another in a major transaction either already knew each other rather well, or would be working thru well-established brokers who _would_ have established trust with both parties.
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### Author:  [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2013, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-it-cost-in-2004-dollars-to-purchase-a-slave-in-the-antebellum-south/247980/26 "2013-01-14T11:14:53Z")
> [@mr\_hoang](#):
>
> Buy slave from Vietnam
>
> E-mail: [master\_hoang@rocketmail.com](mailto:master_hoang@rocketmail.com)
Reported. Oh, yeah, was it reported!
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### Author:  [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2013, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-it-cost-in-2004-dollars-to-purchase-a-slave-in-the-antebellum-south/247980/27 "2013-01-14T11:25:16Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#):
>
> Reported. Oh, yeah, was it reported!
Crikey! First the murder for hire guy, and now this. Is this a new trend, that every time we make a thread about some commoditized crime against humanity, someone will pop out of the woodwork to offer it for sale at a bargain price? :eek:
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### Author:  [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-it-cost-in-2004-dollars-to-purchase-a-slave-in-the-antebellum-south/247980/28 "2013-01-14T13:52:41Z")
The mods just deleted a post on here by someone purporting to be a slave trader.
Please forward that to the appropriate authorities, guys…
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