Collecting Jamestown: Part 13. A Token Like No Other (1).

Today I start a series within the Collecting Jamestown series: A story of a mysterious token.

I also announce a new book project. It is an exploration of talismanic coins with guest appearances of a few demons and witches. The work is untitled at this point, but I will share a rough draft of middle chapter that includes everything this blog holds dear: relic coins, colonial history, magic (including necromancy of course), plus an old ship or two.

"Jetton or medalet" found in 1940 with one side blank.

Our story begins with Alice Ferguson and her husband, Henry, who bought the “Hard Bargain Farm” along the Potomac River in 1923. This once prosperous tract was neglected and over-grown; even the farmhouse was ruined with warped planks and peeling paint. But the couple was undeterred, and after years of renovations, they began to probe the ground for artifacts. Ms. Ferguson was an artist, and her husband studied rocks, but after poking in the dirt, they became nascent archeologists who had discovered the first King’s Touch tokens in America.

Overlooking the Potomac, near the confluence of Piscataway creek, Ms. Ferguson discovered a vast deposit of bones containing 254 skulls. The Smithsonian was called in, and with the help of Dale Stewart and his team of shovels, a large Indian ossuary was excavated. The mass grave measured 16 by 20 feet with a shallow depth of three feet. It was filled with beads made of copper, blue glass, and shell. But one artifact stood out: “an ornate necklace of eighteen jetons or medalettes.”

What were these pieces? One side was completely blank; the other side ... .

To be continued.