Goldberg Coins & Collectibles Auctions    
       

       

                             



Sale 31: The Pre-Long Beach Auction May 30 - June 1, 2005
             

             
            Lot 2181Great Britain. Gold Touch Piece, ND. Charles II. BMI-86. 
            Holed. St Michael killing a dragon on the obverse and a ship in full 
            sail on the reverse. Used in 'touching' ceremonies, where those who 
            suffered from scrofula were brought to be cured. This is a fine 
            example of a gold coin which was symbolically holed. Normally seen 
            in somewhat lower grades. NGC graded AU-55. . 

            Not everything is as it seems, particularly in numismatics. For most 
            collectors, a holed coin is seen as damaged, to be avoided, and if 
            bought then bought cheaply as a filler until a better example can be 
            located. Holed English gold coins are, indeed, sometimes nothing but 
            damaged goods. However, a class of coins exists for which the hole 
            has meaning, and the coin is seen as a special class of memento 
            whose value is not diminished by having a hole in it. In fact, 
            without a hole the coin would be "nothing but a coin."

            This is the famous "touch piece," an example of which is the present 
            lot and lot 2219 as well. Not much has been published about this 
            item, mainly brief comments repeated by subsequent writers. It can 
            in fact be any kind of gold coin but is usually a gold angel. Spink 
            lists such an item as their #2687 without note. Josset stated "The 
            gold coins were made of crown gold except for the angels, of which a 
            small number were struck in standard gold for the ceremony of 
            'Touching of the King's Evil'. The angels served both the Tudors and 
            the Stuarts at this ceremony, when the coins were hung by the 
            sovereign around the necks of the sick. The ceremony was believed to 
            have been started by Edward the Confessor in 1058, when he was 
            supposed to have healed by touch a woman affected by scrofula, which 
            was afterwards known as King's disease." Sutherland believed that 
            angels were made during the reign of Charles I mainly for this 
            ceremony. Brooke implied that the angel as a denomination was 
            created as a sort of "holy coin" specifically for this purpose, a 
            neat idea but it does not explain the existence of "angelets" or 
            fractions, nor the large mintages of angels in the middle ages. As 
            in many cases, the fame of this coin outshines its factual 
            beginning, and "touch pieces" have been a desirable collectible in 
            England for centuries.. 
            Estimated Value $700-900. 

            Provenance: The Cheshire Collection.
             Realized $575
             


          








Courtesy Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers, Beverly Hills, CA. www.goldbergcoins.com