Surface deposits of orange matter from the cork, coin and lip of the bottle have been examined using scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis. All three samples contain cinnabar (HgS) which was most likely the pigment used in a wax seal, the same element being identified in a block of sealing wax recovered from the wreck of HMS Pandora.
The fact that these small deposits are the only remnants of a possible seal may be explained by the fact that wax-eating moths could have penetrated the gaps in the lead capsule and had a good feed on the wax seal covering the cork (Terry Houston, WAM Dept. Entymology, 1998, pers. comm.). Certainly, there is evidence to suggest that organisms have penetrated the bottle and likely devoured whatever organic material was inside.