One that is signed and has the seal of the signer attached. "To render a contract a sealed instrument, it must be so recited in the body of the instrument and a seal or scroll must be placed after the signature." 16 S.E. 2d 502, 504. A sealed contract was a formal contract (as opposed to a contract without a seal which was called a simple contract) and is often called a contract under seal; such a contract did not require consideration atcommon law, Corbin, Contracts §252 (one-vol. Ed. 1952); a deed under seal likewise required no consideration. Today any symbol, even the word "seal" or the letters "L.S." printed on a form, will, if so intended, constitute the necessary seal. Statutes have eliminated most of the special effects of sealed instruments at common law in most of the states, though a number of states continue the common law significance of sealed instruments. Even in many states which have purported to abrogate these effects, longer periods for enforcing debts founded upon sealed instruments exist under their statutes of limitations. See id. §254.
Under the Uniform Commercial Code, the use of a seal is intended to have no effect upon the transaction; the use of a seal "does not constitute the writing of a sealed instrument and the law with respect to sealed instruments does not apply." U.C.C. §2-203.
