Help with Bale Seal

[worshipviolin]

I found this lead bale seal in Tennessee. I have had no luck in trying to find out more about this seal. The writing is very limited because it is worn and parts of it are broken off. I underlined the letters that I am unsure about. One side has a six-point star in the center, with the letters OLDSHALL (I can't make out the letters before and after that), Below the star is very hard to see. Almost looks like A35FU

The other side of it: You can see grooves where it was stamped out. The top letters look to be LI and the letters below that look to be YNNIKAI
Below that there are more letters, numbers, or something that I can't make out.

I would like to know how old this thing could be and would love to somehow figure out what the writing is. Basically, I'd like to know exactly what this bale seal is, who might have used it and when, etc.

If you have any ideas about this, where I can research this seal, information on bale seals, or any idea of how old this could be, I welcome and need your input!!

 

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[Jeff G]

"Bale seals can be found in Reference books such as the Neumann's collectors Encyclopedia of the American Revolution and other colonial era books."

Conner Prairie online source.

 

[TreasureTales]

You might want to try doing a rubbing and see if the rubbing is easier to read than the seal itself.

 

[worshipviolin]

Good idea. I can't believe I didn't think of that! Thanks.