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> Fun fact about the Medallion Signature Guarantee: It's not a seal or embossment, like it often is for a notarization. Instead, it's a stamp (like what you see

> Fun fact about the Medallion Signature Guarantee: It's not a seal or embossment, like it often is for a notarization. Instead, it's a stamp (like what you see on [0]). It's a big stamp, but it's just a stamp. As far as I'm aware, a "seal" and a "stamp" are the same thing. In particular, a seal is just a device that impresses ink onto paper. How is that supposed to be different from a stamp? https://www.japanlivingguide.com/living-in-japan/culture/hanko-inkan/ https://www.japanlivingguide.com/living-in-japan/culture/han... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirloom_Seal_of_the_Realm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirloom_Seal_of_the_Realm (Depending on the documentary technology of the culture, a seal may also be used to make a physical impression in a soft substance, but obviously that is still no different from a "stamp".)

jameshart 2y ago
Seal and stamp can both mean several things, but both can be applied to the process of making an ink impression on a document. Seals also can be impressions left in wax or embossed into a document itself. Stamps can also be separate paper pasted onto a document (eg a postage stamp, a visa stamp) The terminology is fuzzy.
- thaumasiotes 2y ago
  This isn't really compatible with the claim above that "it's not a seal".
  - jameshart 2y ago
    Right. I was agreeing and adding context to your post, not trying to refute it.
- oasisbob 2y ago
  Seals can also be used to bind multiple documents together, or to permanently keep a single document intact. I worked for a bit with a non-profit which was involved in international adoptions. Seeing documents under apostille with elaborate seals wasn't uncommon. eg, a multi-page document attached to a government certificate of authenticity, bound together by a ribbon passed through a drilled hole, with the hole filled with wax.
  - thaumasiotes 2y ago
    That's a mostly-unrelated use of the word "seal", a device that's intended to demonstrate that a document hasn't been tampered with. The use here is to indicate a device that demonstrates that a specific person approved a document. Conceptually, it's a signature.
    - lupire 2y ago
      But what is the scope of the signature ? In cryptography we have encryption and signatures that hash the whole document. In wax we can seal the envelope so that tampering is detectable

jameshart 2y ago

Seal and stamp can both mean several things, but both can be applied to the process of making an ink impression on a document. Seals also can be impressions left in wax or embossed into a document itself. Stamps can also be separate paper pasted onto a document (eg a postage stamp, a visa stamp) The terminology is fuzzy.

thaumasiotes 2y ago
This isn't really compatible with the claim above that "it's not a seal".
- jameshart 2y ago
  Right. I was agreeing and adding context to your post, not trying to refute it.
oasisbob 2y ago
Seals can also be used to bind multiple documents together, or to permanently keep a single document intact. I worked for a bit with a non-profit which was involved in international adoptions. Seeing documents under apostille with elaborate seals wasn't uncommon. eg, a multi-page document attached to a government certificate of authenticity, bound together by a ribbon passed through a drilled hole, with the hole filled with wax.
- thaumasiotes 2y ago
  That's a mostly-unrelated use of the word "seal", a device that's intended to demonstrate that a document hasn't been tampered with. The use here is to indicate a device that demonstrates that a specific person approved a document. Conceptually, it's a signature.
  - lupire 2y ago
    But what is the scope of the signature ? In cryptography we have encryption and signatures that hash the whole document. In wax we can seal the envelope so that tampering is detectable