THE BALE IS WORN THROUGH AND A HOLE HAS BEEN DRILLED BENEATHIT TO ACCEPT A JUMP RING.All our listed items are original Christian devotionals.Some may have been cleaned or polished before their arrival, by their lastcaretaker. Their use is for personal devotion. This is a superb 17th century Catholic Medal taken from an 18th century rosary fragment and just arrived from one of the convents we work with. It is 1.75 inches hanging lenght, and it weighs 20 grams. This medals... dating can be confirmed, as we have on pages 2& 3 of the book AN INTRODUCTION TO RELIGIOUS MEDALS, by Bob Forrest, andpublished by NUMISMATICA INTERNATIONAL in 2004.In addition this book has chapters (outlined in thetable of contents), describing each of the categories of medals, their possibleplace of pilgrimage (acquisition), and origin of the mint where they were made.We recommend that anyone serious about collecting medals from this period, acquire a copy of this book.Thanks for your kind support of our work!