sons of union veterans of the civil war preserved by the grace of God MDCCCLXXXI

My dad past away and left some SUV of the civil war metals that say the following:
sons of union veterans of the civil war preserved by the grace of god MDCCCLXXXI
However, one of the metal part maybe bronze and the other metal parts are silver.
Both medals have blue, red and white stripes on each side with a blue in the middle
I would like to find out why the 2 metals of these 2 medals are different? Thank you for your assistance in this request. Rob

 

Pictures
MDCCCLXXXI = 1881

 

Hi Rob. Can you get good pictures to post - I think it would be helpful to actually see what asking about. Are there 2 identical items or are the 2 different?

And since these are not actual military issue items, it might help you to search for medallions rather than medals.

 

The organization still exists! Have you thought about contacting them?

http://www.suvcw.org/

Are medallions the same or similar to any of the ones shown at the bottom of their page?

 

Here are the 2 medallions with different metals in them? Rob

 

both look same except one is made of silver metal.

 

2 identical items but made with different metals. One is a silver material and the other is a copper or bronze material color.

 

ok, I will look for medallions rather than medals. I found one of them in the copper or bronze material color but not the silver material color. Rob

 

Are there any marks from the maker on the back of either one?

 

I will have to check. In the meantime, here are the backs of those medallions. These might be medallions my dad received for his research into a couple bronze civil war cannons keeping them protected under SUV and another one for his recruiting into a new charter that he started through Maryland SUV but in West Virginia SUV. Rob

 

It's the tiny letters that might give us some clues to the maker - and they are not fully legible in either picture. It is clear, however, that there is no "Sterling" mark on the one that is "silver colored." Are you able to read what's on the back below the big SUV logo?

 

I think the area of interest is a scripted S inside of a square. I think it is readable from the pic. However, I do not think I can get any better pics of the smaller letters at the bottom. I tried my best with a magnify glass and a flash light to read it but I can not say for sure if I am right or wrong. I think that the letters were the same at the bottom on both the silver colored material and the bronze or copper colored material might be as follows:
AUG., AUO. or AUC., Q. or O., FRANK CO. PHILA. PA

 

Okay - The maker was the August C Frank Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1894 by August Conrad Frank. They made " custom medals", sports awards, badges and advertising coins. They sold the medal division in 1972 to Medallic Art Company of Danbury, Connecticut.

The S on the bar at the top probably indicates that the top ribbon holder was made by someone else.

I suggest that you contact the SUVCW to find out when these medallions were made and whether your father would have received them in recognition of the work he did for them. They are easy to contact via the website I linked above.

 

Thank you for the information and the leads. One thing I forgot to mention about those bronze cannons from the civil war is they were painted white maybe to disguise that they were made of bronze. Well, my dad, mom, a couple others and myself went and painted those cannons with water based house paint and we heard from another member that the paint had peeled and they looked awful. However, my dad would not go back and prep and repaint them using I suppose paint that would stick to bronze.
Also, I found a picture with other suv officers, where he was presented with the medallions and I also found a couple certificates that he received from the SUV which explains why he received them as well as a book called the Ashes of Roses and War. Rob

 

I'm glad you found the picture and certificates!