Volkswagen Repair: 1999 VW Golf GL Intermittent Coil, defective coil, golf gl

Question
Hi there, I have a 1999 golf gl 2.0.
I recently replaced what I thought to be a defective coil with a brand new one (from VW).
However the coil seems to functioning intermittently.
Sometimes the car will start, sometimes not.
When I remove the wire from the distributor and hold it near the block, sometimes there is an arc and sometimes not. I replaced my cap, rotor, spark plugs and wires this winter. I also checked the voltage supplied to the coil. I get an average of 12.7V
Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Bill

Answer
What kind of shape is the ignition switch in?  The coil may be getting an intermittent on signal from the ignition switch.  Try wiggling the key around in the switch to see if you can make the coil fire sometimes, and sometimes not.  Let me know how this goes.