File:Modern Russian lead bag seal (reverse) (FindID 155827).jpg

English: Cast lead bag seal with cyrillic lettering, suggesting that it is of Russian origin, and dated to 1839 on reverse. The seal has four slits in its side, two above and two below, to allow the ribbon through to attach it to the bag. Obverse reads: A•Β Πе•ДеС БОΡ•УЈ Reverse reads: A:Β: ΠÉH•ICOP M.K• 1839. Russian seal which had been attached to a bundle of hemp or flax after the goods had been checked and graded.

Likely issued in Archangel and attached to a bundle of hemp. The name of the Quality Control Officer is difficult to make out with certainty on the undated side. The dated side (reverse) shows the contents as Hemp 1 Class in its second line, the intials M K which follow in the next line are those of the owner or producer of the hemp, or else the agent who was working to sell this batch. In the first line of both sides the second letter is a Cyrillic B rather than a Roman B (the Cyrillic resembles a bar over a circle with an upright to the left). The Cyrillic B would stand for BRAK, the word used in Russian to indicate quality control (John Sullivan pers comm).

Bailey (2000) illustrates some Russian lead seals on page 18, Fig.14, but these are 18th century examples.