The Common Seal of Exeter
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This silver seal is the oldest example surviving from any of the towns and cities of England. It dates to c. 1170 - 1200. It reads SIGILLVM CIVITATIS EXONIE (the seal of the city of Exeter) and shows in the central design an elaborate building between a pair of towers - symbols of wealth and security, rather than depictions of any specific building. The seal was the medieval equivalent of a credit card used to show that the city had given its authority to any transaction. It was kept at the Guildhall.
Acknowledgments: Exeter City Council
 and shows in the central design an elaborate building between a pair of towers - symbols of wealth and security, rather than depictions of any specific building. The seal was the medieval equivalent of a credit card used to show that the city had given its authority to any transaction. It was kept at the Guildhall.)
