Roman Lead Seal, ESP

Roman Lead Seal, ESP, Image & Found by Vikingson.
Found in Northumberland, 17mmx12mm.

Roman lead seal/(E S P ) on front/back blank.

Background information found by Petethedig:-

From A Corpus of Writing-Tablets from Roman Britain
"Other texts on metal.
While the planned corpus will include only writing tablets, we also welcome information on other types of 'documents' that are currently being found with metal detectors. Military diplomas are texts incised on bronze issued to auxiliary soldiers on their discharge from the army to record their acquisition of Roman citizenship. Individual copper alloy letters from monumental inscriptions are sometimes found which have become detached from their stone setting. Metal artefacts often bear writing of some sort, whether cast, incised or punched. Maker's stamps and graffiti on vessels, weapons, jewellery, tools and equipment provide evidence of the organisation of production, military supply, commerce and property ownership. Inscriptions on votive plaques or tablets, sometimes in precious metals, may record their dedication to a deity and the name of the donor. Other items, including relatively everyday artefacts, may also register their donation to a deity, while some bear a motto or a record of their being given as a gift. Small rectangular lead labels were attached by cord to either bundles of documents or batches of goods in transit, while lead tags sometimes sealed the ends of such cords. These tags can indicate the goods supplied or those who sent or received them. Metal ingots and lead weights bearing stamps and inscriptions are also not infrequent finds."

"We would therefore be very pleased to hear of new discoveries of curse tablets and other Roman period metal artefacts bearing writing. Contact details including the postal and email addresses of the project are given in the introduction. The CSAD website also includes information on some of the other projects undertaken by the Centre relating to ancient documents and has links to many websites related to the study of the classical world."