AAS Seal - The original seal of the Society was designed by Isaiah Thomas and drawn by
John Ritto Penniman in 1815. The motto, “nec poterit ferrum nec edax abolere vetustas,”
is from Ovid,  Metamorphoses (Book 15, l.872). Read with line 871, “Now I have completed
my work, which neither sword nor devouring Time will be able to destroy,” this text signals Thomas’s anticipation of a secure future for the Society. The Society’s seal was engraved by Abner Reed for Archaeologia Americana, the first volume of the Transactions and Collections of the American Antiquarian Society (1820). [view engraved seal here] [more information on the history of the seal can be found on the Past Is Present Blog Post]

The Amerian Antiquarian Society, 1812-2012 - A View at the Bicentennial