Collecting Jamestown. Part 23. Bent, Holed, & Folded: Introductory Chapter (2nd Half)

Here is the second half of the Introductory Chapter of the upcoming Book: Bent, Holed, & Folded: Coin Talismans for protection against misfortune and witchcraft in Colonial Jamestown.
The pictures and endnotes are not included here -- but I added a cool picture of a talismanic coin from Jamestown that appears in another chapter.

I hope this intro whets your thirst for the topic ... that said, if you like coins, magic, and witchcraft, you will enjoy this book! 


...     At this point, I should remind readers of the difference between primary and secondary uses of coins. We are all familiar with their primary use as money. To the spender, a coin was nothing more than stamped bullion worth what could be bought. In this guise, a penny could be confused with a loaf of sweet bread.

Alternatively, some coins were removed from circulation and used for magical purposes. No longer money, these pieces were imbued with extraordinary significance. Hence, a coin became a talisman that could summon supernatural forces. In this guise, a penny was much more than a loaf.

But what powers were ascribed to talismanic coins? I’m sure you have heard that a copper piece nailed to a rafter could fend off wind, hail, and lightning. And when you step out after dark, coins worn as amulets could protect you from demons that hover in the mist. How about the old adage to carry a crooked sixpence so as to bring good fortune in the marketplace?

This twice-bent halved Elizabeth I sixpence was found in a
pit near the warehouse of John White dating to 1630-40s.
The coin is uniquely bent into thirds reflecting the
English tradition of apotropaic coin bending.

            All of these pieces were marked to signify their secondary use. Some coins were bent. Others were holed and worn about the neck. Sometimes a coin was bent and holed. More elaborately, a coin might be rolled or folded in a specific fashion.

            These are just a few of the ways that coins have been marked as talismans. Here, I define talisman broadly as an object (not necessarily a coin) that can protect a person from harm and/or provide special opportunities in life. The word itself is derived from the Arabic Talsam and Greek Telesma, translated to mean: “I complete or perform a rite.”  

More specifically, amulets are considered to be talismans that are protective against evil forces. Some are known as “devil chasers.” Adding to our lexicon, the term charm is used to denote a rite or the object associated with it. However, if a charm is used to undo or “throw back” a rite (for example, to reverse a bewitching), it is called a counter-charm. Despite scholarly objections, I have found that most folks use the terms talisman, amulet, and charm interchangeably.

We have yet to define magic. Simply put, magic involves the manipulation of occult forces via a rite to produce a desired outcome. Healing and protection are the chief goals of magic, as we want to be healthy and safe above all else. In academic circles, protective magic is described as apotropaic. Other popular ways to use magic include finding lost objects, identifying evildoers, and foretelling the future.

There are two general laws that characterize magical properties.³ The first is the law of similarity. “Like produces like,” the saying goes. Hence, a coin depicting the image of a king carries the power of the king. This is known as image magic. The second is the law of contagion. Objects that have been in contact with each other continue to act on each other at a distance. In this way, a coin touched by a king carries the power of the king.

These laws defy our modern sensibilities, but similarity and contagion are everywhere. For example, we venerate images of Elvis Presley. He is The King, and we want a piece of him. In fact, many of us would love to place an Elvis cookie jar on our kitchen counter. This is akin to image magic.

But also, look how we venerate anything he touched. In fact, many of us would love to hang his silk shirt in our closet, not to wear, but to have a piece of him. This is akin to contagion magic. Either way, we are not surprised when otherwise rational folks pay large dollars for The King. As we shall see, these laws of magic were embraced during post-medieval times.

Now that we have some ideas about talismans and magic, we are off to Jamestown. This was the first permanent English settlement in America. At first landing, they were but 104 souls, alone on an unfamiliar continent and surrounded by natives who did not like the intrusion. Most of the colonists died within a few months. But they kept coming and the settlement survived.

The Jamestown settlers left behind a motley assortment of coins. Several were acutely bent. Others were holed. A sixpence was fashioned into a pendant. Another piece was rolled into a bead. These were deliberate actions for sure, but for what purpose?