Ref: 0009930-19: Seal "Scallop Shell of Compostela"

Here is a refined Italian seal which consists of a waxed turned wooden handle and a bronze disc engraved with the symbol "Coquille de St-Jacques de Compostelle".

In the early days of these pilgrimages, in the Middle Ages, pilgrims arrived in Santiago de Compostela, then continued to the end of Spain, to Cabo de Fisterra. Arriving at the Atlantic Ocean, the pilgrims burned their worn clothes and bathed to purify themselves. Then they were offered a little food, including the famous freshly caught scallops, these shells were quite abundant in this Region of Galicia. Once these shells were emptied and dried, the pilgrims had the right to keep them to use as utensils for drinking and eating, and they hung them on their clothes, their hats, on their bag or even on their staff (large pilgrim's staff). By bringing them home in this way, they proved that they had made the entire Pilgrimage to Compostela, there and back... This shell would then have become the emblem of all the pilgrims of Santiago de Compostela.