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Dutch, Customs Seal, 659

Dutch Customs Seal 659, Image & Found by James Crombie.
Found in the Kirkcaldy area of Fifeshire, 17mm X 23mm.

A typical, tear-drop shaped, Dutch Custom House seal. The first side depicts the Lesser Arms of the Netherlands* with the inscription, R & A (Rechten en Accijnzen = duties and excise) either side of the shield. The reverse has a round concave stamp (possibly of a lion passant reguardant) over the control number, 659.

*The arms, consisting of a crowned lion armed and langued, holding in his dexter paw a sword and in the sinister paw seven arrows tight together, were first used in The Dutch Republic of the Seven United Provinces from 1584 until 1796 when revolution replaced it. It was returned in its current form in 1815 by the first king of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, William I, who added the azure, billetty or with a lion rampant or of Nassau (blue shield, gold lion & billets) from his family arms. However the colour change of the background from red to blue cannot be seen on a lead impression although it is implied by the addition of horizontal lines and the only other visual difference is the billets from the house of Nassau (small rectangles on the background which are only faintly evident on some of the seals). This means the seals cannot be older than 1815 and were probably unlikely to be still in use after the early 20th century.

See Mark Ouwerkerk's Dutch Customs Seals – Catalogue for excellent details about these types of seals.

Date: 07/02/2013
Size:
Full size: 1241x789
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Dutch, Customs Seal, 659
Keywords: Unique Identification Number - BSG.BS.00158 Date 1815 to early 20th century
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