subs. phr. (old).—A good-luck piece given by the sovereign to those they ‘touched’ for the cure of scrofula, or king’s evil.
1882. The Athenæum, 28 Oct. Before the reign of Charles II. no coins were struck specially for TOUCH-PIECES, the gold ‘angel’ having been used for the purpose. The TOUCH-PIECES are all similar in design. Those of the Pretenders, however, which were struck abroad, are of much better work than those made in England…. These TOUCH-PIECES (all of them perforated) are curious relics of a superstition which had existed for many centuries, and was only stamped out on the accession of the Brunswick dynasty.
