Rights Holder: West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service
CC License: 
Image use policy
Our images can be used under a CC BY attribution licence (unless stated otherwise).
SEAL
Unique ID: SWYOR-A6BE58
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
A lead alloy Russian bag or bale seal dating from the 18th or 19th century. Both sides carry raised Cyrillic lettering. It reads: NP / [-]H 12 (K) / 1[...] and on the reverse there are four rows, but the letters are mainly illegible owing to damage in the form of two grooves across the face of the seal. Two slots pass obliquely horizontally though the sub-circular disc from side to side. It measures 22.8mm diameter, 5.3mm thick and 14.12g. It has a flaky white patina.
This seal corresponds with the normal format for Russian bale seals: the obverse is in three lines with the top line indicating the name of a port, (NP for Narva in Estonia, or CAB for St Petersberg) (http://www.mernick.co.uk/leadtokens/newsletters/LTT0611.pdf). The next line is usually codified data which may indicate the producer, and the last line is the date. On the other side, normally the top line may represent the rank of the officer in charge of stamping, the next two lines are his name and the bottom line is a reference number (http://www.mernick.co.uk/leadtokens/newsletters/LTT0612.pdf). Seals like these were used to monitor the quality of flax and hemp originating in Russia in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Inscription:
NP / [-]H 12 (K) / 1[...] // [...]
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: MODERN
Period from: MODERN
Period to: MODERN
Date from: Circa AD 1750
Date to: Circa AD 1850
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Thickness: 5.3 mm
Weight: 14.12 g
Diameter: 22.8 mm
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Sunday 19th July 2015 - Sunday 19th July 2015
Personal details
This information is restricted for your access level.
Other reference numbers
Other reference: PAS form number 2791
Materials and construction
Primary material: Lead Alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Complete
Spatial metadata
Region: Yorkshire and the Humber (European Region)County or Unitary authority: North Yorkshire (County)
District: Harrogate (District)
Parish or ward: Brearton (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: SE3361
Four figure Latitude: 54.04392102
Four figure longitude: -1.49753781
1:25K map: SE3361
1:10K map: SE36SW
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
Similar objects
Find number: SWYOR-0CAB1F
Object type: SEAL
Broadperiod: MODERN
A lead alloy Russian bag or bale seal dating from AD 1824. Both sides carry raised Cyrillic lettering. It reads: NP / TL 12 K / 1824 and on t…
Workflow: Awaiting validation
Find number: SWYOR-7BB80D
Object type: SEAL
Broadperiod: POST MEDIEVAL
A lead alloy Russian flax bale seal dating from AD 1820. Both sides carry raised Cyrillic lettering. It reads: Л[Д] / И.ВИН[А] / КУ…
Workflow: Awaiting validation
Find number: SWYOR-57A342
Object type: SEAL
Broadperiod: MODERN
A lead alloy bag or bale seal dating from the nineteenth century. Both sides carry raised lettering; on one side it is Cyrillic, on the other…
Workflow: Awaiting validation
Timeline of associated dates
About Us
About our Site
Find us
The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG.
T: +44(0) 20 73238618