An uncommon relic found across Hallownest. It has no use except selling to Relic Seeker Lemm for Geo.
The Hallownest Seal is the second of the four relics in Hollow Knight, sitting one rung above the Wanderer's Journal. Per the wiki, it is "a royal seal once used to mark official documents," a leftover from when Hallownest still had a working bureaucracy. Like every relic, it exists to be sold.
According to the wiki, each Hallownest Seal can be traded to 
Relic Seeker Lemm, who runs his shop in a tower in the 
City of Tears. He pays 450 Geo for each one, more than double a Wanderer's Journal because seals are less common.
The wiki notes there are 17 Hallownest Seals in the base game, the highest count of any relic, so a full sweep is worth 7,650 Geo on its own. They turn up in nearly every region, from 
Greenpath to 
Crystal Peak, and one is handed over as a reward rather than found in the world.
This guide covers what the Hallownest Seal is, how it ranks against the other relics, where the 17 seals are spread, the one you collect from the Seer, how to sell them to Lemm, and whether holding them is ever worth it.
An uncommon relic with no use except trading for Geo. Relic Seeker Lemm in the City of Tears.
450 Geo each, the second cheapest of the four relics.
17 total, including one given by the Seer for Essence.The Hallownest Seal is a trade item, not a tool or a key. Per the wiki, its in-game description reads, "A royal seal once used to mark official documents. Now they are scattered, and the documents they sealed are long lost." The Knight never uses it on a door, a charm, or a puzzle.
According to the wiki, the seal belongs to the relic tab of the inventory, the same place the Wanderer's Journal, King's Idol, and Arcane Egg collect. Picking one up does nothing on its own; its only value is to Relic Seeker Lemm, who studies the kingdom's history and pays Geo for each relic the Knight brings him.
In practice, the Hallownest Seal is the relic most players end up with the largest pile of, because it is both common enough to appear everywhere and worth enough to be worth grabbing. At 450 Geo a piece, a stack of seals is usually a bigger payout than a stack of journals.
Relics do not count toward game completion percentage, so there is no reason to hoard Hallownest Seals once you can reach Lemm. In actual play, an unsold seal is just Geo sitting idle in the relic tab.
The Hallownest Seal sits second on a four-tier relic ladder. Per the wiki, each relic sells to Lemm for a fixed amount, and the rarer the relic, the higher the price.
| Relic | Sells for | Count | Rarity |
|---|---|---|---|
 Wanderer's Journal | 200 Geo | 14 | Common |
| Hallownest Seal | 450 Geo | 17 | Uncommon |
 King's Idol | 800 Geo | 8 | Rare |
 Arcane Egg | 1,200 Geo | 4 | Very rare |
According to the wiki, selling every relic in the game nets roughly 21,650 Geo, and the 17 Hallownest Seals make up 7,650 of that, the single largest slice from any relic type. The seal is the workhorse of the relic economy.
The same selling rules apply to all four relics: fixed prices, no haggling, and Geo on the spot. Only the per-item value and how many exist change from one relic to the next.
Per the wiki, Hallownest Seals are spread across nearly every region, often behind breakable walls or tucked on ledges that need a movement ability to reach. Sixteen of the 17 are found in the world; the last one is a reward, covered in the next section.
| Region | Notes |
|---|---|
| Greenpath | Early seals along the green corridors and hidden alcoves |
 Fungal Wastes | Among the mushroom paths and Mantis Village routes |
| Crystal Peak | Behind crystal walls and on high ledges |
| City of Tears | Several in the rain-soaked streets and side rooms |
 Resting Grounds | Near the graves, plus the Seer's reward seal |
According to the wiki, neither the Hunter's notes nor the in-game map flags relics, so a Hallownest Seal in an unexplored room is easy to walk past. Buying the regional maps from Cornifer first makes the side rooms that hide them far easier to spot.
In practice, several seals sit behind acid or in rooms that need the Mothwing Cloak dash, Mantis Claw, or Crystal Heart, so a few will stay out of reach until the Knight has the right movement tools.
One Hallownest Seal is never found in the world at all. Per the wiki, the Seer in the Resting Grounds hands the Knight a Hallownest Seal as one of her early Essence rewards, given once you have gathered enough Essence from Dream Bosses and glowing Whispering Roots.
According to the wiki, the Seer trades a series of rewards for rising Essence totals, and the Hallownest Seal is among the first she offers. It counts toward the same 17-seal total, so collectors chasing every relic need this one too. Tracking down Essence is its own task, covered in the Essence locations guide.
In real runs, this seal tends to arrive naturally. Most players gather enough Essence to clear the Seer's first reward tier well before they finish hunting relics, so the seal lands in the inventory without any extra detour.
The only way to get value from a Hallownest Seal is to sell it. Per the wiki, Relic Seeker Lemm runs his shop from a tall tower in the City of Tears, near the big fountain. He buys all four relic types and pays 450 Geo for each Hallownest Seal.
According to the wiki, the Knight has to speak with Lemm before he opens his shop, and he only deals in relics, never charms or other items. Once the shop is open, selling is instant: hand over the seals and the Geo is added on the spot.
One quirk worth knowing. Per the wiki, after the Knight defeats one of the Dreamers, Lemm leaves his shop and stands at the fountain of the Hollow Knight. Speaking to him there sends him back to the tower so trading can resume. He cannot be killed, so 
the Knight can never lose access to the relic economy by accident.
Sell seals in batches rather than one at a time. The price is fixed at 450 Geo each, so a stack of four seals is an instant 1,800 Geo, enough for a nail upgrade or a charm in a single visit.
For almost every run, the answer is no: sell them as soon as you can reach Lemm. The Hallownest Seal has no crafting use, no lore reward for keeping it, and does not count toward completion, so Geo in hand always beats a seal in the inventory.
In practice, the only players who hold seals are completion collectors who want the relic tab full before a final sell-off, which is a personal preference rather than a mechanical benefit.
The Hallownest Seal feeds the Geo economy alongside the other relics, charms, and bosses. These spokes pick up the connected threads.
Game data and screenshots adapted from hollowknight.fandom.com, used under CC BY-SA 3.0. Original content remains the property of the wiki contributors and Team Cherry.