Cloth Seal, James II, Alnage, Thistle, 1688, Image by StuE, Found by Nasher.
Found near Baldock, Hertfordshire, 14mm, 3.0g.
missing // Bust facing right, OF ENG L(AND) around // hexafoil 3/4 88 / thistle // missing
Two discs of a four part alnage seal. Head facing to its left with inscription around - OF ENG (LAN)D . Other disc has a hexafoil followed by three farthings as the subsidy and then 88 with a pellet above and below to signify the date 1688, the last year of the reign of James II.
This an Alnage seal of James II. The inscription OF ENG LAND has the 'Charles II type' head of James II in the gap. Similar post-reformation seals can be seen in Egan, 1994, Lead cloth seals and related items in the British Museum, British Museum Occasional paper 93, figure 27. See especially number 137 for the portrait comparison.
