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If wiring is stock, the coil is fed directly from the COIL terminal off the ign switch and is usually the only wire on that terminal. Starter and other feeds are off the GA terminal (longest one).

If nothing has been added to the COIL terminal then it would seem that possibly the coil or wire to coil shorted. That could have caused the bakelite in the switch to overheat and burn. Something in the switch could have given up but since you can still crank, it must be partly functional.

EDIT: One other possibility. Some have used the COIL terminal as the feed point for an electric fuel pump. That terminal is only active when the ign sw is in the normal on or run position. If you have a pump and your car was wired that way, possibly a problem in the pump or wire to the pump.

Went to check on the ignition switch and pulled it out. It seems to work fine. I checked it out with an analog meter and the connections work good.
So I got excited and pulled the dashboard apart. I found a lot of wires that were exposed and a few more that I exposed taking the instrument panel out. It looks like I need to replace the wiring harness.
I talked to a couple of guys here at a Friday night car show about the smoke coming from the dashboard and they said, "replace the wiring harness."
Bummer.
I have used Rhode Island Wiring for a harness on my 1940 160 Sedan and it went in pretty good. So I'll try them again. At least I'll wait until Monday when they open.
On the last picture is a bare wire with the instrument panel and the ignition switch. That bare wire was just sitting there attached to a circuit breaker. So I thought it's time for a new wiring harness. I put liquid tape under the hood for the wires in the engine compartment and now will be removing all of those 'taped' wires.
The speedometer is stuck at 40mph while it's on my living room ottoman! The clock is stuck a 5 o'clock, because it must be 5 o'clock somewhere!
Just a few more things to work on.

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With smoke you would at least expect to see some charring somewhere. Is that wire you mention in the last photo and which appears to be bare the likely suspect? Still, even if that is the one it wouldn't explain the no spark unless it was shorting long enough to drop the voltage to coil very low.

I can't tell if it is the suspect wire, but it could be. It was on the circuit breaker, which checks out fine. So it could be the culprit.

Just got back from the PI National Membership Meet in CA. I drove my 55 Clipper, even got a picture of my car with BigKev's 54 Clipper, but that's another story.
At the PI meet, I went to the swap meet and spent too much and should have spent more. I got a chromed set of mud guards that go on the rear doors. I am not sure what they are called. Mine need to have some holes filled, because someone put holes in them to screw the guard onto the door and then they'll need to be cleaned and chromed so it was easier to buy it done. I also bought the plastic emblem that goes on the trunk. I could not afford the emblem that goes on the grill, that one would cost $450.00! I also had to get a headlight bucket because mine was missing a piece that would secure the chrome headlight piece. I also got a better looking grill. You can see the original grill in the bottom of the picture and the new one in the top of the picture. I spent some time polishing up the new grill and it looks better than the pictures shows, but it is not a #1 show quality grill. The grill does look good though. My wife says I spent too much. I still need to buy lenses for the turn signal/parking lights!

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That grille cleaned up wonderfully! There is hope for that parking light housing that made its way home with me!

Put the grill on I got from Big Kevin. It looks a lot better than the one I had, the original one needed to be chromed as the chrome was wearing off. I just set the hood ornament on it to see how it looks. I like it. I hope to start the wiring harness soon.

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Got back at the Patrician. Without my floor jack and jack stands, I removed the wiring harness. I had to cut the nuetral safety switch wires as my son borrowed my floor jack and jack stands for his 74 Bronco. At least I can look at the difference of the new and old wiring harnesses and see what work I need to do before I install the new harness.
Any pointers?

I am waiting for another speedometer as mine did not work and was missing at least 3 screws! I thought it worked 6 years ago when I was driving it, but I was mistaken.

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Got the new wiring harness from Rhode Island wiring. Now I need to transfer parts from the old harness to the new one, like the inside courtesy lights, the high beam indicator light and the steering column socket.
Here's a shot of my 'new' instrument panel. I know it's from a Jr. Packard, but it will work.

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Put the new wiring harness in, got excited, hooked up the battery and the oil and battery light was on with the ignition off!
After 8 to 10 hours of trouble shooting I found that I put a red wire on the wrong spot, I thought I had the wire to the flasher when it was a body feed wire.
It starts and runs now, the oil and battery light go off after the car is started. I am in the process of hooking up the last few wires then I'll take it for a spin.