In Hoodoo culture, silver is associated with the protection against evil as well as curative. The enslaved would drink silver shavings in milk or silver water in hopes that it would prevent illnesses.
Pierced Spanish reale (17mm), bearing teeth marks, recovered at a Poplar Forest Slave Cabin (1833-1858). A pierced 1847 Liberty Head penny was also found at this location. Spanish reales were considered especially lucky for a time. (photo by Lori Lee)
Poplar Forest is a plantation and plantation house designed by Thomas Jefferson in Forest, Bedford County, Virginia.