Cloth Seal, Alnage, Wiltshire, 1681, Image by StuE, Found by Nasher.
Found in North Hertfordshire / Cambridgeshire area, 15mm, 1.2g.
Missing // missing // *, WILTS·81· around // missing
One disc from a 4 disc alnage seal showing a circular border of pellets with a five armed star or floret at its centre. The space in between is filled with curved writing:- .WILTS. 81
Wiltshire was probably the most important cloth-producing county in the early 14th century according to Geoff Egan and in the 16th century its broadcloths were reckoned to be the best quality available in the country but this is from a later date probably linked to a West Country series of four disc seals with the last two numbers only of the year shown. As many of these can be attributed to the reign of Charles II then the century must be 1600. See No.128, Fig.26 Geoff Egan, 'Lead Cloth Seals and Related Items in the British Museum' Occasional Paper 93.
