Help with ancient medal?

ormandh · October 12, 2006 7:07AM

Can anyone help me id this? It appears to have been some sort of medal made of lead. I do not know whta the letters mean or from where it is from. It does appear to have been attached to jute at one time or another. Thanks for any input. -Dan

spoon · October 12, 2006 8:20AM

Looks Byzantine?

coachleonard · October 12, 2006 12:16PM

Definitely Byzantine, and I'd guess that it's a lead seal instead of a medal. The Byzantines struck a pretty fair number of lead seals. Style wise, it looks to be 9th-11th century A.D

coinguy89 · October 13, 2006 7:36PM

Surely Byzantine. The obverse looks like an interpretation of possibly Christ, or a saint of some sort. I wouldn't believe that it would be middle eastern based on the text.

CIVITAS · October 16, 2006 7:19AM

It's a lead seal from the 11th century A.D. Made under the Byzantine empire. It looks like it depicts St. Nicholas on the obverse due to the legend of N/I/KO/LA/O to his left. These tokens were issued in the names of many people from emperors to generals to archbishops, etc. The reverse also seems to mention a Nicholas of some sort, perhaps the issuer's name. There are many types of these that were issued and I'm sure only a fraction have been catalogued. A book written by Zacos and Veglery is used to attribute these, however I would guess it's in Bulgarian (but I'm not sure). We don't have the reference.

It's a nice piece with pretty decent grade. Looks like it's starting to powder a bit, so don't store it anywhere humid. Also, don't play around with it too much as lead oxide is toxic. This looks like an ideal candidate for some B72 consolidant. Know any museum curators?

ormandh · October 16, 2006 7:53AM

Thanks, Civitas and all that have helped me with the identity. I am very close to Princeton University and they have a very large collection of ancients and such. I will take it to him and see what he has to say. What exactly is B72? -Dan

CIVITAS · October 17, 2006 1:00AM

B72 is an acrylic resin used by conservators as an adhesive, binding agent and consolidant. It can be diluted with acetone to a very thin liquid applied with a brush or syringe. It's frequently used to reconstruct broken ceramics, but also can be used on metal and some organics (bone). If a thin layer were applied to your seal, it would bind the surface together and help slow down the powdering and eventual decay of the item. It is also archivally sound and fully removeable with acetone.

A poor man's version would be clear nail polish.

Help with ancient medal?

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