Revealed, the 700-year old PIN number
LIKE so many things that go missing, it was found in the spot where the owner left it. But this bronze seal matrix took longer than most to show up. It is thought to have been mislaid 700 years ago by a contemporary of William Wallace, causing havoc in a Fife palace. For losing a seal matrix in the early 1300s was like us losing a bank card or forgetting a PIN number, say historians. Now – rather too late for William de Lamberton, Bishop of St Andrews – his missing seal has been located in a field in nearby Boarhills, where his palace once stood. It was discovered only a couple of inches under the ground by 33-year-old Abbey Moffat, from Kirknewton, near Edinburgh, on her first organised metal detector dig. Struck by the St Andrew’s Cross on the seal and the clear lettering in Latin, she thought it might be significant. In fact, the Treasure Trove Unit at the National Museum of Scotland described the find as ‘spectacular’ and paid its finder the £10,000 it was worth.
The seal, which dates from between 1297 and 1328, was the standout item among the archaeological discoveries reported to the Queen’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer in the last year and detailed in the annual Treasure Trove report.
The seal was almost certainly used on official documents from the bishop, who campaigned for Scottish independence alongside Wallace and Robert the Bruce.
Stuart Campbell, head of the Treasure Trove Unit said: ‘It was like your signature or your chip and PIN. When they were thrown away, for example when the owner died, they were very deliberately defaced. But this one is in excellent condition.’
Under Scots Law, the Crown can claim any archaeological objects found in Scotland.