Russian Bale Seal, Riga, Image & Found by Old Man.
Found within a 3 mile radius of Colyton in Devon, 21 x 18mm, 10.4g.
The obverse shows crossed keys with a cross above between the key blades and the number 1 between the handles. The reverse is blank.
See Fig.81 p.63 & p.48, John Sullivan, 'Russian Cloth Seals in Britain Trade, Textiles and Origins', 2012, "Riga seals connected with the flax trade have been recovered in substantial numbers ... but ... have not been properly identified ... Their distinctive characteristic is their motif, derived from the Arms of the town of Riga: ... on the lead seals recovered in Britain, which on one side are usually blank, only ... the Cross Keys and the Cross which stands below the open crown [are shown]. In addition, between the heads of the two keys stands a number indicating the quality of the goods inspected (1, 2 or 3), number 1 being the most frequently recorded."
Geoff Egan,'Lead cloth seals and related items in the B.M. (B.M.occ.papers 93)' see No.264, Fig.34, "Presumably some kind of clothiers' or weavers' seal rather than a corporate issue. The keys are in a different style from those on known Leiden seals." From the picture in the BM catalogue this could easily be confused with one of these Riga bale seals but from examination of the original it is clearly a cloth seal and not a bulla type seal.
