An exciting find today, a seal matrix...

Bavaria Mike

Gold Member
Feb 7, 2005
8,340
177
Bavaria Germany
Detector(s) used
Minelab XT70, Fisher 1280, Garrett Ace 250 and MH5
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I managed to do 4 hunts this week, about 1.5 hours each. Was great to get out there and detect even though the weather was just above freezing. Here?s a picture of one of the fields I detected, the town in the background was founded in 793 AD.
normal_Gfield.jpg

After the third hunt and about 4.5 hours of detecting, these were the finds. The coins are an 1874 and a 1900. Upper right is part of a large porcelain button, a tin horseman, a few buttons, a bullet, a flange of sort and an Army unit crest from the 7th Infantry missing a cotton bail in the middle, I looked for it but didn?t find it.
normal_16Mar06finds.jpg

Today I called my wife who said we still have 10+? of snow and snowing more so I decided to detect after work for an hour before driving home. There is a big difference in climates from where I work to where I live. I didn?t think I had found much but was happy to get in a good hour before going home to the frozen tundra. This is a water meter cap 7.5 cm diameter, thought it was a beer stein cap.
normal_17Mar06mcap.jpg

Also found a musket ball, a button and a round metal slug, so I thought!
normal_17Mar06mball.jpg

When I cleaned up the finds, I found the metal slug had a thick crusty coating all over it so I used a toothpick to clean off the crust. It came off fairly easy but while cleaning it, I was confused and had no idea what it was but an image was coming out. When I got to the point that you see in the picture, I realized what it was and stopped cleaning, gave it a gentle brush off with a toothbrush and water, it?s a seal matrix, if you are not familiar with seal matrixes they are stamps that were pressed into wax to seal a letter or sign you name. Grabbed the magnifying glass and started marveling over it. I estimate 500 years on this one, hope I?m close. The seal shows a rampant lion to the left at the top of a bed of plumes with a shield or coat of arms at the bottom, it is mirrored and this is what the stamp would look like as a wax seal. It is 3.2 cm in diameter or close to an American 50 cent coin, a little large for a common seal matrix and closer to the size of a town?s seal matrix. I researched the town?s coat of arms, formed in 1662 and it?s nothing like this but it could be older than the present arms. I haven?t cleaned the reverse but it has a rough area in the middle where a dowel or stem would have been for a handle. There is a museum in the town I will visit soon and ask them if they know anything about the matrix. Maybe even donate it to the museum if they?re interested and hopefully gain respect, trust and new detecting areas. The town was founded in 793 AD but dates back to 3700 BC, they have the finds to prove it.
normal_17Mar06seal.jpg

I took this picture close to home of a train station, I think the Ice Age is back and it?s starting where I live, 10+? of snow on the fields and 6? piles of snow everywhere but I still had a good week of detecting. HH, Mike
normal_imtrain.jpg
 

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