Cloth Seal, Leiden, Shield with Saltire Keys, Image & Found by John LaFountain.
Found in Rutland County, Vermont, USA, 35mm, 62.4g.
Ornate shield bearing keys in saltire, crown above, L(EY)DENINHOLLANDT around // missing but head of rivet shows @ / 64, fabric weave imprint on reverse of disc one
The @ symbol is first mentioned in a measurement gauge context in a document dated 1536 concerned with the size of amphorae. There are many more examples of Leiden seals showing this @ sign above a length, all using the same letter type. In Leiden Museum they have seal matrices for these types of cloth seals. [p.312, Elton, S., Cloth Seals, Archaeopress 2017]
From the finder, "I discovered a seal in Rutland County, Vermont, USA, fairly near my home, that surprised me somewhat. I found it with a metal detector, of course. It is lead, 35 mm in diameter, about 2 mm thick, and weighs 2.2 oz. As you can see from the photo it states LEYDEN IN HOLLAND over the coat of arms, and the coat of arms contains the two crossed keys one would expect. I don’t know much about seals like this, but I have been told it is a bag or fabric seal. Except for the punch it is in great condition. I have perused your photographs of seals on your web site and thought perhaps you might like to add this one to the photos. 250-300 years ago the Dutch had a strong presence in the Hudson River area over in New York state, and did a lot of trading until the French got ambitious, followed by the British and then the Colonies, of course. At any rate, the Dutch influence spread here and there in the Northeast, and apparently this seal moved from Leyden to a farm in Vermont."
There are several similar seals in Geoff Egan's 'Lead Cloth Seals and Related Items in the British Museum' B.M. Occasional Paper 93. None match this one exactly but as it has the name and coat of arms of the city there is little doubt that it is a cloth seal from Leiden. Geoff gives some interesting information about such seals on page 110:-
"Leiden's important and varied textile industry is widely represented by finds of seals in England and on the Continent. [And now we can add North America!*] In the 1660s its products undercut the prices for similar English fabrics in this country. Leiden's Lakenhal (cloth hall) Museum has an extensive collection of items relating to the sealing of cloths which took place there."
*This link shows that Leiden cloth seals are known in Indonesia, South Africa and America.
"The cloth merchants supplied the bolts of cloth off the forecourt, where the sampling officials approved it. In the large guild hall, also called the Great press, the bales were provided with a stamped lead seal, cloth seals have been found in Indonesia, South Africa and America."
De Lakenhal Museum in Leiden, Netherlands, mentioned above, intends to mount a new exhibition showing the extent of its cloth trade around the world and to this end they were very pleased to see this seal and its find location. The following is from a personal communication from them:-
"what a fantastic kick-start [this record] has given to our project! All of us really jumped at the seal from Vermont – we knew that our textile-merchants were exporting to the States, but we were yet to see the proof. Wow! What a story!"
