Virginia medallion what is it ?

[DirtyMike]

I have searched around to find a match but can not seem to do so. Has anyone seen one of these or know what it is or represented?

 

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[creskol]

Almost looks like teh UVa Rotunda and other Uva buildings .. Interesting medallion!

 

[DirtyMike]

I was hoping you would chime in Rob.

Almost looks like teh UVa Rotunda and other Uva buildings .. Interesting medallion!

 

[Rebel - KGC]

I think it is Civil War-related; looks like the "Stars & Bars", state of Virginia, White House of the Confederacy in Richmond, Va. (now a museum); send copy of your "pic" to them.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Whats it say on the top? Whats on the back?

 

[Mackaydon]

Does the top script read: 'Virginia' or something else?
Is anything on the reverse side?
BCH, No, it's not an echo, only slower fingers on the keyboard.

 

[creskol]

Are these letters or part of the design?

 

[DirtyMike]

It does say Virginia in the banner at the top and there is nothing that I can see on the back. And Rob, I am not sure if those are letters or a design or an object. I looked at it through the loupe and still can not make it out.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

For those of us with smaller screens...

I also sharpened it a bit. Nice find. Too bad there is no manufacturers mark on the backside.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

MUCH better! STILL looks like a CW-era "tag", as in Rail Road "'tag" I see Virginia State capital building; part of West Virginia connected to WEST side of Virginia (Roanoke, Va, area). I can ONLY speculate it is a Va. & Tenn. RR "tag", indicating something of importance for the western portion of the state; COULD be a MAP! Coffee? BTW, the "building & grounds" MAY be the WHITE HOUSE OF THE CONFEDERACY. NOT sure of the other building; MAY have been in Roanoke, Va. area (on the bottom of the "tag").

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

The multi-columned building inside the state "map" on the token/charm is definitely the Virginia State Capitol building.

Regarding the other buildings on the token (or charm):
I investigated Creskol's suggestion of University of Virginia buildings, particularly the Rotunda. It does resemble the UVA Rotunda, but it's definitely not that. The UVA Rotunda building's main body (excluding its six-columned porch) is round, not square or rectangular. Another of the token/charm's buildings does closely resemble UVA's Alderman Library - but Alderman was constructed in 1938. So, if that is what the token's building is, the token therefore is post-1938.

I also investigated Rebel-KCG's suggestion that one of the buidings is the White House of the Confederacy. It isn't, because the WHotC's portico (columned porch) has four sets of double columns. (See the photo at the end of this post.)

I see a clue that the token/charm was made long after the end of the civil war. The clue is the shape of the Confederate Battleflag - which was square, not rectangular. Therefore, during the war, that flag was shown (in paintings, etc) as square-shaped. Well-after the war, people who didn't know the Battleflag's actual shape portrayed it as a rectangle (like the US flag). The token's flag is rectangular.

Two sidenotes:
1- The Confederate Navy's flag, showing the same logo as the Army's battleflag, was rectangular. So in actual fact, the token/charm's flag is the Navy's flag. I don't think that's what the token's maker intended. He probably made the same error that many people today make ...thinking that the rectangular flag was what Lee's army (and Johnston's army, etc) used. Nope. The actual Confederate Battleflag was square.
2- Another frequent 20th-century error: the "Stars-&-Bars" Confederate flag is not the CS army's Battleflag. The "Stars-&-Bars" flag was the First National Flag of the Confederate Government. It has two horizontal wide red bars, with a wide white bar between them - and at upper left, a blue square containing white stars. Viewed from a distance, it was easily mistaken for the yankee Stars-&-Stripes flag, so it was superceded by the Second National flag (a small square battleflag emblem located at the upper left on an all-white field). To view the different Confederate flags (and info about them), go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America

 

[DirtyMike]

Thanks so far to every one for all the help.

 

[ipsilateral]

Old Virginia boy here.. I believe the two buildings at bottom are going to be Mt. Vernon and Monticello but I may stand corrected as others chime in.

 

[DCMatt]

Old Virginia boy here.. I believe the two buildings at bottom are going to be Mt. Vernon and Monticello but I may stand corrected as others chime in.

I agree. The buildings at the bottom represent Mt. Vernon & Monticello. Good eye!

Is the top left image a "zoomed in" area of the state map? My first thought was that it represents the VA tidewater area. Then I thought the Shenendoah. Both seem a little too far fetched even for MY imagination.

Whatever it is won't change my opinion that this is a souvenir medallion from the early to mid 20th C. I have nothing at all to back up my opinion but it just doesn't look "old" to me.

DCMatt

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Virginia "boy" here, too; ORIGINALLY from the Valley of Virginia (Shenandoah); now, near Lynchburg, Va. Looking at the "tag"... appearing to be that the "buildings & grounds" are out of state... MAYBE, North Carolina. The "winding" MAP, COULD be "winding mountain roads" of mountains in WESTERN part of Virginia (WEST of Roanoke, Va.) OR... "WINDING" rivers, somewhere. I KNOW that there are SEVEN bends of the Shenandoah River, North of New Market, Va.; you can see 'em from the Shenandoah National Park, I think... can't remember. Coffee?

 

[DCMatt]

Virginia "boy" here, too; ORIGINALLY from the Valley of Virginia (Shenandoah); now, near Lynchburg, Va. Looking at the "tag"... appearing to be that the "buildings & grounds" are out of state... MAYBE, North Carolina. The "winding" MAP, COULD be "winding mountain roads" of mountains in WESTERN part of Virginia (WEST of Roanoke, Va.) OR... "WINDING" rivers, somewhere. I KNOW that there are SEVEN bends of the Shenandoah River, North of New Market, Va.; you can see 'em from the Shenandoah National Park, I think... can't remember. Coffee?

I think Rebel got it. It is the seven bends of the Shenandoah.



DCMatt

 

[DirtyMike]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I still can't seem to find one of these anywhere on the net. But all the help is appreciated. I am pretty certain the buildings have all been identified correctly. Still not sure about the piece on the left.

 

[ipsilateral]

I am going to use my 100th post to say, Wow Rebel you nailed it! Impressive ID.

 

[Breezie]

Great token and Great Id!

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Old Virginia boy here.. I believe the two buildings at bottom are going to be Mt. Vernon and Monticello but I may stand corrected as others chime in.

The top building looks like the Virginia State Capital but why does it have something on the roof? Maybe another clue? http://intelligenttravel.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/20/virginia_state_capitol.jpg