Damianos, 6th century. Seal (Lead, 22 mm, 9.26 g, 12 h). [H AΓI]A-[M]/A/P/I/A The Mother of God enthroned facing, holding Christ in front of her. Rev. Block monogram of ΔAMIANOV with a star above; around, circular legend ...ΠA...CЄ...OΛ.... Unpublished in the standard references. An intriguing early Byzantine seal with a remarkable depiction of the Mother of God. Scrape on the obverse and some doubling on the reverse, otherwise, very fine.

The design of this seal is unconventional in almost every way. Its obverse has a rare depiction of the Mother of God of an early "Nikopoios" type, enthroned facing and holding an infant Christ in front of her. Neither mother nor child seem to wear a nimbus. In addition, the name Mary only very rarely appears on Byzantine seals, where the Mother of God is normally named "Theotokos". Finally, the legend accompanying this block monogram is also very unusual, even more so with an outwardly oriented legend