Metal detecting holidays in England with the World's most successful metal detecting club.

Twinned with Midwest Historical Research Society USA

 

  • Bale Seals

    Lead seals such as cloth seals and bale seals were widely used in Europe between the 13th and 19th centuries as a means of identification and as a component of regulation and quality control. Cloth seals appear to be the most thoroughly documented type of seal. Cloth seals were typically two disc seals joined by a connecting strip. These were intended to be folded around each side of a textile and stamped closed, in a manner similar to that in which coins were stamped.

    Bale seals such were single disc seals, rather than two disc seals, and were also used to identify textiles, as well as parcels and bales of trade goods. The obverse would typically display a city's arms, and the reverse would record data such as the length or width of fabric or the weight of a parcel.

    Specialist literature - British Museum Occasional paper 93 - Lead cloth seal and related items in the British museum - Geoff Egan

     

     

    Sack/ Bale and Cloth seals are fascinating artefacts and I am trying to amass as much information and history on them as on I can. They are a badly overlooked area by most Archeologists so if you have any information on the seals displayed here please drop me an e-mail and I will include it on my site.

    The Meaning of Number 20 on a Seal's Obverse:

    The Arabic number 20 located on the reverse of a lead seal refers to the length of fabric measured in Dutch els. As explained by Mr. Wiard Krook, Amsterdam Department of Archeology: "From the official regulations of the city of Leiden, we know that one full woolen laken (in 17th Century Dutch spelled as "laeken" or "laecken", meaning one uncut length of woven woolen fabric packed and folded to a bundle), should measure 40 Leidse (or old Dutch) el in total. So a half laken should be 20 el long. Before it was released for selling it was officially measured and the final length indicated on a lead seal. One Leidse el is converted to 69 centimeters, making one full laken 27.6 meter and one half laken 13.8 meter. The width of a laken from Leiden was between 1 el (69 cm) and 3 3/4 el.

    Cloth seal with weavers initials CM and privy mark(d)
    East India company seal(r)
    Early sack seal
    Huge lead sack seal with star decoration
    Unknown sack seal
    'not Russian as ZOLL is clearly visible'
    Small seal with shield and animals
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    19th century Netherlands (c)
    1882 Bale seal
    1641 Russian bale seal
    19thC Bale seal
    19th century Netherlands
    1813 Russian bale seal
    1773 Dutch low countries sack seal(z)
    Crown with 36 sack seal

    Monogrammed seal AM

    Prussian lead seal of Friedrich II.(1740-86), (b)
    1835 Russian bale seal
    18thC Russian lead sack seal
    German sack seal
    1762 sack seal
    Sack seal
    1782 Russian bag seal(m)
    Sack seal with crown design (r)
    2- 1815 Sack seals
    1843 Sack seal
    1805 Sack seal
    1835 Sack seal
    Late 17thC Russian sack seal(c)
    Unusual lead seal
    1770 Russian sack seal(c)
    1775 Sack seal(r)
    Sack seal (r)
    18thC Russian bale seal
    1818 Russian sack seal(y)
    1860 sack seal
    1777 Russian bale seal
    1800 Russian bale seal
    Bale seal JY
    1814 Russian bale seal
    1811 Russian bale seal
    Sack seal with VF design
    1769 Russian sack seal
    1830 Russian sack seal
    L&L Bale seal
     
    Bale seal
    1830 Russian bale seal
    1815 Russian sack seal 
    18thC Russian bale seal
    1816 Sack seal
    Document seal
    1812 Russian bale seal
    17thC Bale seal with M design
    Bale seal
    Cloth seal with EA, similar to East India company
    Russian bale seal
    1766 Russian bale seal
    1756 Russian bale seal
    1835 Russian lead bale seal
    1825 Russian bale seal
    1718 Russian bale seal
    Huge lead Medieval document seal with shield design ?
    Lead bale seal with traders mark CM
    Heraldic lead seal
    17thC Dutch bale seal R & A = Regten en Accisen, state finance department)
    1813 Russian bale seal
    Lead Seal or token
    Lead with a head like Queen Anne 1702 (r)
    Lead seal with really early looking design
    Unusual lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    Russian bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead seal ?

    1818 Russian bale seal from St Petersburg

    ПAKЛЯ Codilla: broken flax, the coarse part of the flax separated in the first heckling process

    1801 St Petersburg Russian lead bale seal (unrecorded type)
    1754 St Petersburg Russian bale seal - unknown reverse
    1775 Russian lead bale seal
    19thC Russian lead bale seal
    19thC Russian lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    18thC Dutch lead bale seal - Lion in shield
    Post medieval lead cloth seal
    1791 Russian lead bale seal
    Neat Lead bale seal with 19thC paddle steamer ship design
    1834 Russian bale seal
    1826 Russian lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead clothseal
    1750 Russian lead bale seal
    1775 Russian bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal - crossed keys
    Post medieval lead bale seal - crossed keys
    1788 German lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    19thC Russian lead bale seal
    18thC Dutch lead cloth seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    19thC Russian lead bale seal
    19thC Russian lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    1815 Russian lead bale seal
    Interesting post medieval lead cloth seal with flying pipe design
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    1825 Russian lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal - Fluer de Lis
    1814 Russian lead bale seal - St Petersburg
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    1678 Dutch lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    1793 Russian lead bale seal - St Petersburg Port
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    1825 Russian lead bale seal
    1825 Russian bale seal
    1801 St Petersburg Russian lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    18thC Dutch lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal
    19thC Royal artillery lead cloth seal - the cloth was bought for the coats and trousers and made up at the local depot to fit the soldier - Tower London
    Russian lead bale seal
    18thC Dutch lead bale seal
    1776 Russian lead bale seal
    1828 Russian lead bale seal
    Dutch lead bale seal
    1790 Russian lead bale seal
    Medieval lead bale seal
    18thC Dutch lead bale seal 1780 Russian lead bale seal
    17th/18th C Dutch cloth seal
    1777 Russan bale seal Post medieval lead bale seal
    1790 Russian lead bale seal 1846 Italian lead bale seal
    1814 Russian lead bale seal Medieval copper bale seal
     

    Stunning condition 1778 Russian lead bale seal

    N.P is Unprovenanced

    1770 Russian lead bale seal

    W.K. is Unprovenanced

    17thC Dutch lead bale seal 1812 Russian lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal 17thc lead bale seal
    1808 Russian lead bale seal 1774 Russian bale seal
    Post medeival lead bale seal Post medeival lead bale seal
    1746 Russian lead bale seal - St Petersburg 18thC Russian lead bale seal
    18thC Russian lead bale seal 1800 Russian lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal Post medieval lead alnage cloth seal
    Post medieval lead cloth seal 1814 Russian lead bale seal
    1826 Russian lead bale seal 17thC Dutch bale seal 1797 lead bale seal
    Post medieval Russian lead bale seal 1815 Russian lead bale seal
    Post medieval Russian lead bale seal Post medieval lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal 1821 Russia lead bale seal
    Post medieval German lead bale seal 1760 Russian bale seal
    1763 Russian lead bale seal Post medieval lead bale seal
    1827 Russian lead bale seal 1813 Russian lead bale seal
    1767 Russian lead bale seal 1890 Russian lead bale seal
    19thC Russian lead bale seal Post medieval lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal Post medieval lead bale seal
    1827 Russian lead bale seal 1817 Russian lead bale seal

    Post medieval lead Peruvien bale seal

    A lead seal of the 'bulla' type from a bag of Peruvian guano (fertiliser made from bird excrement). One side of the seal depicts the shield of arms of Peru. It has the inscription GOUVERNEMENT PERUVIEN around, and DEPOSE below. The other side is inscribed THE PERUVIAN GUANO Co LIMITED around, and AGENCE DE FRANCE in three lines in the centre.

    The bulla - a disc with a tunnel from side to side through which a string is passed - became a popular form of seal during the 18th century. It was found to be more versatile than the rivet-type seals hitherto used on cloth, as it could be attached to a wider range of goods, including the bags, bales and sacks in which they were distributed. The method of sealing was to pass the ends of the package's tightened drawstring through the tunnel in the blank seal. The latter was then die-stamped to impress the design and grip the string.

    Peru was a major supplier of guano between the early 1840s and 1870s.

     

    19thC Russian lead bale seal Post medieval Polish lead bale seal
    19thC Russian lead bale seal 1759 St Petersburg Russian lead bale seal
    17thC Dutch lead bale seal Post medieval lead bale seal
    1814 Russian lead bale seal 1813 Russian lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal Dutch lead bale seal
    1814 Russian lead bale seal 1812 Russian lead bale seal
    1777 Russian lead bale seal 1815 Russian lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal Russian lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal Post medieval lead bale seal Post medieval lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal Russian lead bale seal Post medieval lead bale seal
    Russian lead bale seal East India company seal
    1704 Queen Anne lead bale seal 1821 Russian lead bale seal
    1804 Russian lead bale seal Russian lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal Russian lead bale seal
    Post medieval lead bale seal Post medieval lead bale seal
    1815 Russian lead bale seal Dutch lead bale seal
    1801 Russian lead bale seal Post medieval lead bale seal
    1838 Russian lead bale seal Post medieval lead bale seal
    Russian lead bale seal 1815 Russian lead bale seal
     
    Post medieval lead bale seal