File:Medieval Seal matrix (FindID 37373).jpg

English: Large lead seal matrix, pointed oval in shape. The top is more rounded than the bottom; at the top is a flaring projection which is broken at a perforation which appears to run almost diagonally through the thickness of the metal. The matrix is 3 mm thick at the bottom, but increases steadily in thickness up to the broken top of the projection, where it is 6 mm thick. The overall surviving measurements are 49.5 x 30 mm, but without the projection (for easier comparison with other matrices) the length is 40 mm. The reverse is slightly rounded and undecorated.
The central motif is a fleur-de-lis, engraved upside down and filling the bottom two-thirds of the space only. There are some dots around the stem which attempt to fill up the rest of the space. The inscription is deeply and neatly engraved onto the matrix, but starts at the top right, rather than the conventional top left, and is the right way round rather than being in mirror-image; therefore the matrix reads as the impression ought to, and vice versa. It reads + SIGL' BENEDECTI F M.
The S is carved the other way round from the rest of the inscription; the M has a barred first half and a curly foot at the end, and so probably represents the monogram of the Virgin Mary. The inscription can therefore be read as 'Seal of Benedict, son of Mary'; whether this should be read literally or metaphorically is uncertain.