Sixpence Witch Piece. Is your Butter protected?

The necromancer is among friends when hanging out with cunning men and wise women. We are in the same business -- namely, relieving the bewitched or haunted.
   No one likes to suffer from the foretelling of a witch. Even cows could be affected by an evil spell. If the milk did not flow, then perhaps the cow was bewitched.
   There were several remedies. One strategy described in the 1400s was to boil the milk over a fire and beat the kettle -- hard -- with a stick. This would harm the witch since the casting of a spell "connected" the witch to cow. Another strategy used in colonial times was to cut the tongue of the cow with a sharpened silver coin; this would hurt the witch and end the spell.

   It seemed that dairies were particularly vulnerable. Milk production and butter churning were not well understood in medieval and early modern times. Few folks appreciated the impact of environmental variables on dairy processes -- temperature, bacteria, and the like were mysterious. Hence, sour milk and failed butter were attributed to maleficia -- that is, the harms due to witches.
   Coins were used as talismans to keep witches away.
   A bent sixpence was placed in the milk pail. Or, a bent sixpence was buried in the yard where the cows were milked. Sometimes, four bent sixpences were needed: one placed at each corner of the barnyard, thereby protecting the entire square.
   The bending -- often a single bend down the middle -- was important. This allowed the coin to pass into the spiritual world. It was an ancient tradition. In medieval times, a bent weapon or tool was buried with the deceased so that the same would be available in the afterlife.
   Previously in this blog, I described love token benders that were unearthed at Jamestown. These pieces were bent so that the vow extended beyond the corporeal world.

So imagine my surprise to find a so-called "witches piece" for sale by a UK dealer. It was a bent Elizabethan sixpence. As it turns out, these pieces are quite common. It has been estimated that one in ten pieces were bent for magical reasons. Witchcraft was a daily fear. There were many accusations and trials. One needed to take action.
   Of course there is no way to know how this particular sixpence was used. Was it just a mutilated coin? Was it bent to make change, but the break never completed? Was it bent by a plow blade? Maybe the dealer bent it so as to raise its value as a curiosity piece? These are all good questions.
   Still, the prevalence of bent sixpences in UK hoard finds and metal detecting reports suggest that many "witch pieces" have been discovered. After all, the English liked milk and butter.
   Perhaps I'll put this one in our milk so that it will be protected from the witches down the lane. I saw a hare in the yard yesterday, and now I am worried.