Old Sails: Ship of Paris on Beat Jeton.

Old ships from the sixteenth century never fail to captivate me.

This one has just the right look for a necromancer: it was held, passed around, put away, and taken out again. The surfaces are warmly colored with daubs of red, orange, and yellow -- the last rays of a setting sun. The ship is highlighted where worn. The porous fields disperse the light. Yes, it is beat. But beautiful.

In the late 1600s, a jeton like this was one of the few ways a land-lover could enjoy the marvel of a a fully-rigged ship. This was the Age of Discovery.

Nuremberg Jeton with Ship of Paris, late 1500s.

The main and aft sails are billowing in the wind, whereas the foresail is furled. Pennants fly from every masthead. The ship appears to be on a port tact. I imagine that it is leaving the harbor and heading out on an adventure far beyond the horizon.

This ships appears to be an early Carrack, similar to the one that I profiled in November 2015. It has moderately sized fore- and aft-castles with shallow U-shape from bow to stern.

The vessel represents the "Ship of Paris" -- the central feature on the city's arms. The legend -- FLVCTVAT NEC MERGITVR -- is the motto of Paris since the 14th century; it translates to read: "Tossed, but not sunk." It is an adage that resonates with me; life has it challenges, but we keep on, getting on.

It is amazing how little things change in life.

On the reverse (not shown) the motto -- PROSPERATVM EST OPVS IN MANNIIS EIVS -- translates: "Work prospers in his hands." There is a view of Paris with divine figures in the clouds above the city.

All told, a neat ship piece.

If you look close, you can see the makers initials below the waves: CK. This stands for Killian Kock. He was the mint master from Nuremberg (1580-1608). On the obverse the abbreviation -- NORIBE -- stands for his city.

This ship is scarce but available. There are several variations on this theme, some without waves. By the way, this is the 15th Old Sails thus far in the blog ... and I see more ships appearing on the horizon. As always, if you see an error, please post it so we all can benefit.

Collecting Jamestown: Part 16. A Token Like No Other (4).

This week I continue the story about King's Touch tokens or tickets. It is part of a Chapter from an upcoming book on Coin Talismans.

I have revised this Chapter several times, so I updated all previous posts. I hate to say this, but you will want to go back and re-read the previous three posts if you want the full story: 1/29/17, 2/3/17, and 2/26/17. Some paragraphs have been re-arranged and many words changed (hopefully for the better). This is how writing goes: write, revise, revise, revise.

My book manuscript is written (but for one or two chapters), so the revision process is underway. Over a hundred references will be added in later -- whew!

And so, on with our story:

During the King’s Touch ceremony, the afflicted person would use the copper ticket to gain admittance. When called forward, the person kneeled before the King and was touched. A bishop read Biblical passages from the Gospel of Mark during the service. One verse in particular explained the immunity of kings to evil and the power to heal: “They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:18). At the conclusion of the service, the King hung the coin around the neck of the afflicted.

While visiting the British Isles in 1611, the Prince of Hesse made this observation. “I … attended the ceremony of “touching” several scrofulous patients, two bishops being also present; during the benediction the King laid two fingers upon them, and hung around the neck of each an angel with a white silk ribbon.” I’m sure that the service was a curious spectacle. The King’s Touch was unique to England and France and must have intrigued foreign dignitaries like the Prince.

The primary illness to be cured was a tubercular infection of the lymph nodes known as Scrofula. It was a common ailment characterized by ugly purple swellings in the neck and occasional outbreaks of oozing sores. The disease was called the “King’s Evil” or “Morbus Regius” for its association with the touching ceremony. Less often, folks with rheumatism, seizures, and fevers were admitted to the service.

Charles II touching the scrofulous.
Print by Robert White (1684) / Public Domain

These illnesses tended to follow a fluctuating course such that periodic remissions were possible; hence, the King’s Touch appeared to be efficacious often enough to generate remarkable success stories. Some physicians were no doubt skeptical, as the king’s surgeon, John Knight, commented in the 1670s: “If I err, I err in good company. Meanwhile the healings cheer the sick and serve the cause of the king.” When relief was not forthcoming, it was attributed to divine providence; I guess sinners – thieves, fornicators, murderers – had to pay a price.

The King’s Touch service was usually performed twice a year on Michaelmas and Easter. Not all monarchs were enthusiastic to touch. James I was notably squeamish about it, and he wanted to end the practice for its Old Church associations. Yet, the services continued. The populace clamored for it. Besides, the ceremony strengthened the monarchy in the eyes of its subjects. At its height, Charles II touched over 92,000 souls between 1660 and 1685. And, James II continued the practice with zest.

       The ceremony was abruptly stopped in 1688, as William III refused to touch. He famously retorting that is was mere superstition; he was a Calvinist after all. Queen Anne touched reluctantly. In fact, she used a lodestone instead of her fingers to touch the sores of the afflicted. The divine service was finally removed from the Book of Common Prayers when George I ascended to the throne in 1714. Of note, Jacobite pretenders and a few French kings continued to touch into the early nineteenth century.

I will have some more in a few weeks ... (I hope you are enjoying the story).

Loving the Unloved: Holed Connecticut Copper

This 1786 Connecticut copper ceased being money a long time ago.

It is heavily worn with what appears to be a planchet flaw (or deep gouge) scarring the upper cheek. Deep cuts, now worn shallow, reveal old injuries. Edge bumps, too, are smoothed and broaden the rim.

A colonial collector will find the bust familiar. But, my eye goes directly to the wound. It is dramatic. And its on the face -- we can't help but flinch. 

I put this one to good use.
Placed on the back of a door, it protects entrance.

The nail hole is dramatic too.

A rounded nail was pounded thru. The sprue on the reverse is pronounced and worn to a dull sheen. Hence, the bust looked out. The coin is slightly bent behind the bust from the blow. 

Was it nailed to door or post?

It was not unusual to nail an old copper near an entrance: door, window, or hearth. Here, evil could enter. Studies of apotropaic magic in New England suggest that the hearths were particularly vulnerable – they could not be shut.

A copper piece could repel witches. And witches were feared well into the eighteenth century (and beyond in a few cases). Sometimes, the copper was placed to appease the divine – a foundation sacrifice meant to protect against wind, hale, and other violence.

It could have been holed for other reasons. However, it does not show thus stretch marks of suspension. We can't know.

This Connecticut copper was already old when it was holed – a piece in the box perhaps. Or, a family token passed down. Who knows? 

A holed coin is no accident. It was a specific action. Planned. With a goal. The hole marks a point in time when the coin entered a second (or third) life.

I am sensitive to this action, as any necromancer would be. Just as an old scar on my arm reminds me of a dog bite; this lowly piece has a story to tell – not a story by association to a state or era, but its own story.

Collecting Jamestown: Part 15. A Token Like No Other (3).

This morning I continue with the "King's Touch" tokens and their mysterious connections to Jamestown and other native and colonial Virginia sites. 

The text is a draft of a book chapter I am working on. I pick up the trail were we left at the beginning of February.

Out of the Ground at Jamestown. What is it?

  

The Touch Pieces were made of gold and were valuable. The bestowal was akin to giving a penny in alms to the poor, as this represented a daily wage. In contrast, the gold Touch Pieces were initially valued at six shillings and eight pence (128 pence in all); this was the fee charged by physicians. Like the silver penny, the Touch Piece was proportional in value to the need that it satisfied.

The gold Angel coin, introduced in 1470, was chosen for use in the touch ceremony. It was named for the obverse depiction of Michael the Archangel slaying the evil dragon. In this guise, I suppose the dragon was the illness. The reverse showed the royal ship of state, representing the monarchy. The Angel was holed and strung with a white ribbon. As such, we have the most direct affirmation for the talismanic use of an English coin. In addition, it use was sanctioned by the head of the Anglican Church (the King) – quite ironic, don’t you think?

In order to reduce fraudulent claims, the king’s surgeon screened the applicants to insure that each complaint of illness was legitimate. For those deemed worthy, a copper token was provided as a ticket of admission to the divine service. When the use of tickets was initiated is not known, but records from the Tower Mint indicate that an order to produce copper tickets was recorded in 1635. Perhaps this is why the British Museum interpreted Ferguson’s find as those of Charles I.

       There are references of King’s Touch tickets having been produced on contract by the Freemasons before 1635, but none of these pieces have been identified. One candidate is a copper token described in the 1916 edition of the British Journal of Numismatics. The piece shows a hand from heaven hovering over four persons on the obverse, whereas the reverse depicts the linking of a rose and thistle linked beneath a crown. This reverse design is similar to the pieces found at Piscataway.   

Now that March is nearly here, the JT digging season will be starting up again. I think they have been digging all winter inside the 1907 church. For the rest of us, it will be time to visit again.