Courtesy Naval District Washington, Naval Air Station Patuxent River.
Site:18ST704 - Charles’ Gift
Feature 12-Lot 600, borrow pit c. 1675-1700.
Date Range: 17th- to 20th-century plantation
Size: 39 mm diameter
Style: Merchant-type
Description:
Ligatured AB at the bottom of the seal that is linked to a vertical bar that runs through the letter D in the center of the seal. The bar is topped with a 4. Branches or leaves encircle the central motif. McNulty (2004) refers to conjoined initials as “ligatured”.
Charles’ Gift, also known as Eltonhead Manor, is a 17th- to 20th-century plantation.
It has been suggested by Ruggles-Brise (1949) that the intertwined A and B represent the first initials of a husband and wife, whose surname began with a D.