Royal Mint seal

There is a certain amount of mystery surrounding the seal pictured here. We know that it is a Royal Mint seal, that it was held by the Warden or his deputy and that it was used to authorise warrants granting exemptions to Royal Mint labourers from being pressed into service in the navy. We also know that it was made by the Royal Mint engraver John Croker about the year 1709 and that there are traces of the original letter A for Anne below the G for George.

What is not known is what happened to it after the abolition of the post of Warden in 1817. The deputy Warden, Frederick Mott, is believed to have taken it away with him but the trail then runs cold until 1838, when it was retrieved from a pawnbroker’s shop. Today it is safely on display in a showcase at the Royal Mint but we may never know the whole story of its travels.