Didn't know where else to post this. About 6¼" in diameter. Counting the relief it's about ¾" thick. It's most likely made of hard wax. 2" hanging loop at the top. 1½" tassel at the bottom. I suspect it's not much more than a wall plaque honoring Queen Victoria circa 1900. Is there a specific name/reason for this?
1 on Ebay now.... QUEEN VICTORIA - GREAT SEAL OF THE REALM UNIFACE link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Queen-Victo...733758?hash=item35f41bde3e:g:BSoAAOSw9mFWKT7q the 1 you are looking at is in much better shape. I am not sure what it is used for.
@kanga Check with Hedley Betts at medalsoftheworld.com He could probably help you since he specializes in British medals. Chris
How about carefully copying all the writing around the edge? It's very hard to read, but that should lead to a quick ID. Incidentally, the OP's medal is not uniface, it has designs on both sides, so not really comparable to the eBay piece. Hard wax? It's not bronze??
opps... you are right of course. my bad. since you've mentioned it... I am thinking it might be the lost wax system of making a medal ??? I could be wrong on that too... just guessing at this point. I just saw that it looked similar to the OP's in question.
You'd find such a seal on the bottom of a grant of letters patent such as an elevation to the nobility, possibly a grant of arms, typically for some award still in the Queen's gift. If you have the original and complete document the seal is enclosed in a tin box for protection. I have sold a few examples of documents and similar seals over the years.
If this were a seal that is pressed into wax to seal an official document, wouldn't the design and lettering be backwards on the seal itself so that the mirrored image left on the sealed document is readable?
Not on the type of formal document mentioned. I assume they are made by pouring wax into a negative mould, including the ribbon so the ribbon is inside the wax. The documents are usually vellum, the seal is suspended freely by the ribbon. Here is an example of a17th C. Probably Prussian seal, somewhat smaller at about 3 inches across and somewhat battered, but of the same family of objects. I recently found this one in a collection of antiques.
