The book is coming along. I am making a trip to an archeological site next week to view a witch bottle -- more on that later.
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| Angel from the James I King's Touch Ceremony. This piece was likely touched by the King himself. This Angel was profiled last August on this blog. |
Returning to
Jamestown, the mother lode of King’s Touch tokens came to light when the cellar
of the Factory was excavated in the late 1990s: twenty pieces were found in a
sealed context with a terminus post quem of 1611. As noted before, this longhouse was used as a trading depot. Another five pieces were retrieved from a well
located along the north bulwark of the fort. Four more came from the
floor of the blacksmith shop and bakery.
One of the first
King’s Touch tokens found during the Jamestown Rediscovery excavations was dug
from the topsoil near a ditch in the southeast corner of the fort. This
ruddy piece was sharply bent and suspicious. The bend was in the fashion of
talismanic pieces; yet, it is unclear whether it was damaged or deliberately
bent. Its location near the surface suggests that the plow is a culprit – but
who knows?
All told, the
story of these King’s Touch tokens in American soil is nothing short of
fantastic. Of course, there is continued speculation about whether or not they
are tickets to the King’s Touch service. They could be pattern pieces that were
never adopted for use, as they are virtually unknown in England. But one thing
is sure, they became trade goods once they were brought to Jamestown. Beverly Straube, then JR curator, conjectured that these tokens were part of a plan to set up a fort
economy. Maybe so, but that is not what happened.
For the better part of a decade, I searched for
one of these elusive pieces. I am still empty-handed. But, gold Touch Pieces
are available once or twice in a blue moon. Since they represent one of the
most magical talismans of the era, I chased after one even though none have been
found in a colonial context. Eventually, a dealer found one for me: a battered
Angel dug from a field near York. The coin was holed and offered with an tantalizing guarantee (plus a wink and a nod): James I had touched it!
Hope you liked the draft Chapter.
