Great Seal of the United States include a more vigorous and uncrested eagle, the removal of the acanthus leaves, a general crowding of the design upward, a different shape to the shield, and fruit on the olive branch (four olives). The seal was 2 1/8 inches in diameter. In 1866, the first counterdie was made, which is the same design in opposite relief. The paper was placed between the die and counterdie, resulting in a sharper impression in the paper than from one die alone. The use of counterdies continues to this day. [[File:US Great Seal 1877 drawing.png|thumb|1877 die design]] The [[United States Centennial]] in 1876
Great Seal of the Realm High Chancellor. Edward the Confessor sometime before A.D. 1066 started using a "Great Seal" casting in wax of his own visage to signify that a document carried the force of his will. With some exceptions, each subsequent monarch up to 1603 and the Union of the Crowns which united the crowns of Scotland and England has chosen his or her own design for the Great Seal. When opening Parliament, on 3 September 1654, the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell was escorted by the three "Commissioners of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of England", who were Whitelock, Lisle, and Widdrington. This