Collecting Jamestown. Part 22. Bent, Holed, & Folded: Introductory Chapter (1st Half)

Here is an excerpt from the Intro Chapter of the upcoming book entitled:

Bent, Holed, & Folded. Coin Talismans for protection against misfortune and witchcraft in Colonial Jamestown.

*Pictures and Endnotes are not included here. BUT, I did add a very cool picture for this posting; one that has never been seen before.

*The book will be available in early 2018.

Chapter 1. 
A lustrous shilling was valued for the bread and ale that it bought, but a bent penny was revered for the protection it offered. This may seem like an odd assertion. But these were the priorities in seventeenth-century England.

As much as I like to fantasize about traveling back to a time when soldiers wore plate armor and cabassets, I would not have wanted to live then. Life was precarious. Diseases, accidents, and violence were common. People rarely lived past forty, and those that did suffered daily from new and old wounds.

And yet, it was the devil that worried folks the most. Evil lurked in every corner. Witches lived next door. Even nightfall was considered a portent of hell, full of villains. No one – rich or poor – was safe.

This worldview left nothing to chance, as misfortunes were attributed to moral failings. Hence, the press to gain God’s favor while also defending against evil was relentless. Merely saying one’s prayers incorrectly – a word omitted or said out of place – put one at risk. Many folks adopted rituals such as “crossing thy self” as a protective gesture before stepping outside. A common retort in the face of adversity was to ask: “Have you crossed yourself today?”¹  

Here we have a deliberately bent Charles I

penny found in the plow zone.

Several pennies like this one have been

discovered at Jamestown and in early sites

along the James River.

The bending was likely talismanic.  

People armed themselves with protective talismans. Cubeb seeds and ginger were placed about the neck to ward off evil. Bible verses were scribbled on paper and held close at heart. Coins were fashioned for otherworldly use to curry divine favors. These were anxious times. If I were to climb into a time machine, I think an afternoon visit would be enough.

With all these hazards, we can agree that the daily concerns of people living back then were quite removed from our own. I worry about the caffeine in my morning coffee, but I don’t fret too much about witches. Heart disease is today’s evil. This contrast reminds me of the opening lines to L. P. Hartley’s novel, The Go-Between: “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”² How true. We simply cannot squeeze our feet into their laced shoes.

Like many historians interested in the English colonies, I overlooked the impact of supernatural beliefs on their actions. Yet, we acknowledge that our spiritual ideas (or lack thereof) shape what we say and do. So it was in colonial times. Unfortunately, few colonists bothered or had the wherewithal to write down what they were thinking while sipping their ale.

But they left their relics.

I stumbled onto this subject after reading about several mutilated coins excavated at Jamestown, Virginia. The coins appeared to have been damaged on purpose. I was intrigued. And so, I set out to find out how these coins – bent, holed, and folded – were used. The archaeologists provided some cursory interpretations in their field notes, but I wanted to know more.

This book recounts my quest to understand how the colonists used these objects to stay safe and prosperous. But I give you fair warning: magic is not easy, as facts and folklore blend together like butter and margarine. You must tolerate ambiguity while embracing the incredulous. And, I hope you enjoy chasing tangents, as my journey meanders like a restless stream folding back on itself.

Along the way, I encountered battered coins that appear no more magical than a rusty nail. But looks can be deceiving. I also learned more about divine providence, dead saints, and witches that I anticipated. But mostly, I was impressed with the ingenuity of common folks who conjured up occult forces when needed.

More to come ... .