Cloth Seal, Somerset, James I, Alnage, 1611, Image & Found by Simon Bourne.
Found on the Thames foreshore.
blank // H .1611. above, in a circle, inscription around - COM'. SOMERSET // Stuart arms // blank
Complete four disc alnage seal with the inner discs showing .1611. curved above H in a circle with inscription around - [COM'?].SOMERSET . The arms of Stuart Britain on the other side.
A county alnage seal from Somerset in the reign of James I.
See:- PROVENANCED LEADEN CLOTH SEALS by GEOFFREY EGAN, Sub-Department of Medieval Archaeology, University College, University of London. submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 1987, "The 1610-11 stamps form a complicated series. The basic devices are a central letter, 1611 around top, COM'... around //arms of Stuart Britain with a crown, 1610 or 1611 above. These stamps appear on two-disc seals, and on the inner discs of four-part seals ... This 1610-11 series seems to mark the transition to the four-part type of seal for several counties. ... [seal]2085 - // H, "1611" around top, ... (S)OMERSE(T) around // 1611 over shield with Stuart arms of Britain // S(ER)/CHE(D), 16(11 ALNE)GERx around".
