Antiquities Discussion Forums > Seals and Tesserae

Lead seal/token/bulla

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Sosius:
Hello All,

I've got this neat little lead seal that I am trying to figure out.  I can't read much of the obverse text, but I seem to see   :cross:_?_ :Greek_Pi: :Greek_epsilon: :Greek_Beta:(or Latin R) :Greek_epsilon: or something like that. 

The reverse shows some sort of angel/victory leaning on a spear or something. 

It does seem to have a hole at the top and bottom, so it is conceivable that some sort of string went through it, or that two ends of a string went into it. 

Diameter: 20-22mm
Weight: 8g

All in all a strange little token/seal/bulla/whatever, but I like it. 

Any attribution help would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Cliff

mauseus:
Hi,

The reverse looks like Thanatos with an inverted torch with stylised flames. Never seen anything like.

Regards,

Mauseus

Sosius:
Wow, first response in 205 seconds!  That must be some kind of record!  I will see where Thanatos leads me. 

Gert:
I have never seen something like this before, and the mixture of styles and periods (Byzantine legend, late Roman portrait in a semi-barbarous style, but a rather well engraved eros leaning on a torch, reminiscent of 2nd century provincials) seems to indicate a modern fantasy piece.
Regards
Gert

Sosius:
Gert, you may be right about this being some sort of fantasy piece, but it seems quite old, given the patina, so maybe its an older piece. 

Looking at it again, the obverse might read ...PE REX... which would make it an even odder piece. 

Regards,
Cliff

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