AByzantine Seal Blank, ca. 10th - 11th Century CE

BByzantine seal blank, 10th-11th century A.D.  In order to produce a lead seal one first had to obtain a blank lead disk with a channel running through it such as this example.  Such disks, either completely flat or with a raised central channel, were produced by casting.  Slate molds for their production have been found in the excavations at Corinth; each shows a deep groove meant to receive a wire which, when removed from the casting, would leave the necessary channel.  Of course proper alignment of the two halves of the mold were important and in order to ensure it, molds have small depressions – and corresponding mounds – near their edges.  But occasionally the fit was not perfect and there are seals with an overlap or projection of metal halfway between their two surfaces.  The diameter of blanks varied considerably from under one centimeter to almost eight centimeters for especially large seals; the most common formats range between 1.5 and 4.5 cm.  One may imagine that in larger