Cloth Seal, French, Hondschoote

Cloth Seal, French, Hondschoote, Image & Found by José de Sousa.
Found in the Algarve, Portugal, 21.2mm, 7.82g.

The arms of Hondschoote, a shield bearing Ermine, on a bend 3 escallops // griffin segreant (double rivet)

"Before 1659, Hondschoote was part of the Spanish Netherlands. A thriving wealthy cloth-town, it had thousands of small workshops making serge cloth from locally-grown flax. Events such as Beeldenstorm, conquest by France and the War of the Spanish Succession, however, brought an end to prosperity. The cloth-makers fled to what is now Belgium and England, taking their skills to benefit France's rivals." Wikipedia.