touch piece

noun

touch piece

noun
1

Historical A coin or medallion given to someone in Britain after they had been touched by the sovereign as a cure for the king's evil.

  • At home there was still a brisk traffic in the touch-pieces given to the sufferer at the royal ceremony, and subsequently worn round the neck as a souvenir or a protective amulet.1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 187:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.