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Description: | Upper part of a two part carved sub-rectangular stone mould for the production of a circular unidentified item probably for casting either lead tokens or badges of probable late medieval or post-medieval date (1450-1700). The lower part is missing. The stone has been carved into a roughly sub-rectangular block with a series of seven angular sides. It measures 97.3mm in length, 66.2mm width, and is 30.7mm thick. It weighs 339 grams. The stone used to make the mould is ?a very fine silt or mud stone with large quantities of mica within it?.
All the faces have been roughly worked to produce a flat surface. The upper and lower faces as well as some of the sides have also been ground and polished smooth. The design / mould has been carved off centre on the upper part of the stone block. It measures 35.6mm in diameter. The design seems to have been laid out using either a compass or a set of strings as the central elements are all well formed even circles. The design consists of two concentric circles contained within one another. At the centre of the inner circle is a circular depression (which would form a pellet in the mould). This pellet is contained by four curvilinear lines forming an irregular square shape. This square shape is contained by the first of the concentric circles. Between the inner and the outer concentric circles area series of inscribed letters and symbols. The letters are all depicted in reverse (so that they are the correct way around on the casting). All of letters and other symbols are connected to either the outer or inner circle probably to aid the casting process. The letters read R I (?) T K (or R) A. The symbols consist of straight lines. At the top edge is a large incised channel which links the carved design to the edge of the block. The purpose of this channel would be to allow the molten metal to fill the upper and lower parts of the mould. A third concentric incised partial circle is present, however it is likely that this was used to help lay out the overall design rather than being decorative. There are no pugs or holes present to connect the upper and lower parts of the mould together.
The mould is a mid grey colour and has been abraded and damaged in the ploughsoil. There are a number of large scratches present with several small fractures and chunks also being removed. This is most likely due to abrasion and rolling in the ploughsoil. Similar parallels of this mould have not been found. Moulds for producing lead tokens are known: however, these are usually relatively crude. This mould has been well executed but the inscription does not make particular sense. The inscription could be interpreted as being a series of initials or an acronym. Lead tokens were used as both tallies and forms of local currency in the late medieval and post medieval periods. It is most likely that this stone mould dates from this period. | Format: | text/html | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ | Publisher: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Rights holder: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Subjects: | archaeology | Temporal: | 1450
1700 | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Peter Reavill | Identifier: | http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefac... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | text/html | Go to resource |
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