Cloth Seal, German, Bremen, Image & Found by Niels Henrik Andreasen.
Found at the renaissance fortress of ”Kastellet”, Copenhagen, Denmark, 23.4mm, 11.6g.
Simple privy mark 4xx type I R to sides // Crowned Key / 46BREM / ELLE, BREMER SA(LE?)...O.. around
The ell(e) is a unit of measurement that preceded the yard (an English ell equalled 45 inches), however it varied from place to place hence the need to stipulate a Bremen ell.
From Steen Agersø, "The 46BREM / ELLE(N) means 46 BREM(ER) ELLEN.
1 bremer ellen (ell) was 0,547 meters.
This means the roll had 25,162 meter of cloth."
“In many marks there occurs a symbol which resembles the modern figure ‘4’. It must be understood that this symbol was incorporated in marks long before the figure 4, as we know it, was used in the west, and that it has nothing to do with the numeral.” [Girling, F.H., 1961, p.104]. It has been suggested that this device originated from runes or is based on the Lamb of God, but perhaps the fact that it maps out the path the hand takes when making the sign of the cross is the simplest explanation. From p.249, Elton, S., Cloth Seals, An Illustrated Reference Guide to the Identification of Lead Seals Attached to Cloth: from the British Perspective, Archaeopress, 2017.
