Cloth Seal, Charles I, Alnage, Thistle, 1631, Image & Found by Lancastrian.
From the Yorks/Lancs boarder area.
The rivet and part of the rove discs from an alnage seal showing a crowned thistle with I and possibly another figure to sides at the centre of an annulus containing inscription with only the date decipherable 1631. The other disc has a circle with the number 31 inside it.
This is from a series of county seals begun in the reign of James I with a crown-over-thistle design on one side, and often the weight of the cloth in pounds on the other. See:-
PROVENANCED LEADEN CLOTH SEALS by GEOFFREY EGAN, Sub-Department of Medieval Archaelogy, University College, University of London. submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 1987. p.150 "Lancashire Seals. No Lancashire portcullis seals, as described in Statute 8 Eliz. I c. 12 of 1566, have been recorded. The county seals thought (from the use of Roman numerals) to be the earliest recorded probably date to the late 16th- or early 17th century: crown over rose, LANKASHIRE around (crude engraving) //(Roman numerals). On the second discs one example has XXXIIII, and two have XXXVI, presumably indicating the weights of the cloths in pounds (cf. 1566 Statute). ... From the reign of James I (cf. Buckinghamshire no. 3938 for dating) are seals with: crown over thistle, IR to sides COM: LANCESTERY around //(Arabic numerals, 29 & 32 have been recorded). Presumably from the reign of Charles I are seals with precisely similar devices, apart from CR to the sides of the thistle. The second discs of two of these have 30, one has 31, one 32, and four 34. An example with 37 may have the same thistle stamp, but the monarch's initial is illegible. Here too the number is presumably the weight in pounds of the cloth."
Therefore likely to be an alnage seal probably for the county of Lancashire from the reign of Charles I but strangely with the letter I (normally for James). Either fault by the engraver of the punch or a misinterpretation of the image.
