Inventory for MSA SC 1551-6



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MSA SC 1551-6-1
RESTRICTED: Do not circulate without the permission of the State Archivist or the Director of Special Collections.
Dates1817
Mediumoriginal (metal)
StorageContact the Department of Special Collections for location.
Description
Great Seal of 1817. This was the first Great Seal of Maryland not designed as a pendant seal. All earlier seals consisted of two halves that were impressed into soft wax, which was then suspended, pendant-like, from the document. The 1817 seal was designed to emboss the image into the paper itself, a more efficient and less messy means of sealing. The Great Seal of 1817 was engraved in steel, and because it was to be used for embossing, it was much smaller than earlier seals. Its main decorative device was the American eagle surrounded by a border ornamented with thirteen points. The seal was ordered defaced upon its replacement by the Great Seal of 1854.