Cinque Ports Artillery Memorial Coin? Help needed

[DianaD]

Found amongst late Dad's militaria collection. Could be bronze? Diameter 1.5". Inscription on front reads Serge Major Fred k Graves June 10th 1863 HONORIS CAUSA CINQUE PORTS ARTILLERY. Inscription under leaves at bottom could be OTTLEY .... (unclear). Could be connected to 1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers. I found Honoris Causa translates from Latin to For the Sake of Honour. I know it's not a badge, but any ideas would be appreciated. Thank you.

[mike_vee]

Found one on an auction site (from 2015) that had a hole in it and a ribbon attached , described as "Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers silver honoris causa medal".

https://auction.gorringes.co.uk/auct...refno=10353034


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[mike_vee]

Found another one , described as :

Cinque Ports Artillery Medal, obv. cannon, with soldiers and sailors to either side and seated Britannia with lion and standards above, rev. engraved, ‘Won by the Gun Detachment of Gunner William Forster, 22 June 1865’, 41mm., bronze;

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[mike_vee]

The mention of the "gun detachment" makes me wonder if these coins/medallions were awards/prizes given out at gunnery competitions.

From the wiki page about 1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers :

The battery was disbanded in 1876 after a shooting competition at Hastings, when the men refused their captain's orders to march back to Rye and instead caught the train.

In 1866 the unit won the Queen's Prize at the annual National Artillery Association competition held at Shoeburyness.

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[DianaD]

Thank you Mike for your replies. The reverse is exactly the same as ours, but sure ours isn't silver. I will keep searching. Thanks Diana.

[mike_vee]

Originally Posted by DianaD

The reverse is exactly the same as ours, but sure ours isn't silver.

The photo I posted is of a bronze 'medal' , so perhaps there were different metals used for 1st/2nd/3rd place in competitions ? Found a mention of a cup being presented to winners.

Article from The Illustrated London News, No.2257—Vol. LXXXI, Saturday, August 5, 1882, p.139.

The nineteenth annual meeting of the National Artillery Association began on Monday morning at Shoeburyness. The southern division, which takes the first week, entered the camp on Saturday. The camp presents its usual attractive and martial appearance. The aggregate value of the prizes competed for during the present week with the 64-pounder Palliser, the 40-pounder breechloader Armstrong gun, and the 10-inch gun, restricted to selected brigade detachments, amounts to £323, independent of the prizes offered for repository competitions and the challenge cups and prizes awarded for the highest aggregate scores during the whole meeting. The first prize in the Palliser Shell Competition, was given by the Gravesend detachment of the 1st Kent Artillery Volunteers, who scored the highest possible total in the shortest time. Three other detachments also made the same score of forty-eight, but in longer times. They were, in the order of merit:—The First Detachment of the 1st Gloucester, the Second of 2nd Middlesex, and the Second (Hastings) of the 1st Cinque Ports Brigade.

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[mike_vee]

An article from The Sydney Morning Herald on 20th October 1865 gives details of the National Artillery Association competition and the various monetary prizes , cups etc were awarded for different parts of the competitions. Some were awarded to individuals and others to detatchments (gun crews).

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13120528


Edit : Found a later (1883) mention of a "Cinque Ports Challenge Cup"


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[DianaD]

Thanks again Mike. You've been busy! Very interesting. Diana.