Folia archeologica 13.
L. Huszár: Merchant's seals of the 16th and 17th centuries
» MERCHANT'S SEALS OF THE 16TH AND 17TH CENTURIES In the valuable archaeological material brought to light by the excavations and restoration works on mediaeval fortresses in Hungary, carried on extensively during these last decades, attention has been attracted by a group of numismatical finds which, though seemingly insignificant, were of a peculiar character. Namely from the walls of from the area of several such fortresses, in a word from their ruins peculiar medal-like lead pieces came to light, revealing as regards types and legends unquestionable English features. On some of them a hole, lug, band, or the remains of these may be noticed, suggesting at first sight that by the means of these the pieces in question had been attached to something. So it seems justified to assume that they had been a sort of seals or package-seals. Having collected the specimens with undoubted sites in Hungary, we have attempted to elucidate the purpose of these pieces and the way they reached Hungary, though in many cases we had to have recourse to conjectures and deductions only. But before trying to solve these problems we give the description of the series of specimens at our disposal, collected for this purpose. (The pieces are shown on plates XXXI—XXXII.) 1. Obv. *H0NI*S0EIT*i)VXMALXVC*;)4ENSE-:-v Crowned English royal arms. Two beasts as supporters. Upper part of the piece merges into a band bearing the vertical lettering H/w/ui,/,,,,/j-j Rev. Plain. Eger, Dobó István Museum; lead, 33 mm (the band 23 mm). Found in the fortress of Eger, in the debris of the blown-up ammunition-magazine under the hall of the chapter. 2. Obv. Same as the preceding but without a band. Rev. Plain. Eger, Dobó István Museum; lead, 32,5 mm. Found at the same spot as the preceding. 3. Obv. 0INIXE03IT*IWVA°199*Dd:-: Arms as before, the shield supported by two animals. Rev. Plain. Győr, Xantus János Museum; lead, 34 mm. Exact site not known but it certainly came to light from the area of the fortress of Győr. 4. Obv. *H0NI*50EITXQVI*MAL*Vo* , ,PENSE<+*
