Paulos, circa 9th-10th centuries. Stamp Seal (Silver, 20 mm, 7.00 g), with a hole and ring for suspension. +KЄ ROHΘ' TⲰ CⲰ ΔOVΛ, ΠAVΛⲰ ('Lord, help your servant Paul') In center, hardstone gem with head of Apollo to left; the outside of the stamp elaborately engraved with branches. A wonderful middle-Byzantine stamp seal showing an interesting re-appropriation of a Roman gem. Minor chipping along the edges of the gem and minor scratches on the stamp, otherwise, good very fine.


While this stamp seal was produced in Byzantine times, during the 9th or 10th century, the gem contained within is much older, probably dating to the 2nd-3rd centuries. Such reappropriations of Roman gemstones are known, but this is a particularly elaborate and finely engraved example. Clearly Paulos was a wealthy person, whose personal seal, which he probably always wore around his neck, was made by a particularly skilled silversmith.