Hancocks was founded in January 1849 by Charles Frederick Hancock, who opened a shop on the corner of Bruton Street, New Bond Street, London.

In August 1849, after only eight months in business, Hancocks received the Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria, she and many of the Principal Sovereigns of Europe became regular patrons. This was followed by a further 4 Royal Warrants including Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother which was held up to her demise.

Hancocks exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London; this was followed by exhibitions in Paris and Vienna in 1867 and 1873. After a rapid expansion and peerless reputation earned by Charles Hancock during the formative years he was entrusted with the design and production of the Victoria Cross.

In January 1856 the designs for the medal were submitted by Lord Panmure, Secretary for War, to Queen Victoria. Victoria approved the design with one amendment, preferring that the motto on the cross should be For Valour rather than For the Brave, as this would lead to the inference that only those were deemed brave would have got the Cross.

After the design had been approved the first metal proof was submitted to the Queen on February 4th and was not accepted. A revised proof was submitted on the 21st February with more amendments being required. Further proofs were submitted and on the 3rd March 1856 the medal was finalised when the samples were returned to Lord Panmure, one having been chosen as satisfactory.

On March 4th 1856 the War Office instructed Hancock's to prepare 106 specimens.

The Victoria Cross is still made exclusively by Hancocks today.

Hancocks subsequently moved in 1917 to Vigo Street, 1970 to Burlington Gardens and in 1998 to our current home in Burlington Arcade.

The decoration is a cross pattée, 41 mm high, 36 mm wide, bearing a lion statant gardant on the royal crown, and the inscription FOR VALOUR on a semi-circular scroll. On the reverse of the medal is a circular panel on which the date of the act for which the decoration was awarded is engraved in the centre.

The cross is suspended by a ring from a seriffed "V" to a bar ornamented with laurel leaves, through which the ribbon passes. The reverse of the suspension bar is engraved with the recipient's number, rank name and ship, regiment or squadron of the recipient.

The ribbon is crimson, 38 mm (1.5 inches) wide. The original 1856 specification for the award stated that the ribbon should be red for army recipients and blue for naval ones. However the dark blue ribbon was abolished soon after the formation of the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918. On 22 May 1920 King George V signed a warrant that stated all recipients would now receive a red ribbon and the living recipients of the naval version were required to exchange their ribbons for the new colour. Although the Army warrants state the colour as being red it is defined by most commentators as being crimson or "wine-red".

To date only three people have been awarded the VC twice. In each case a second bar is awarded which is ornated with laurel leaves. The ribbon passes through the bar, which is worn above the first VC. The reverse of the bar is engraved with the recipient's name, number, rank and ship, regiment or squadron of the recipient.

It was originally intended that the VC's would be cast from the bronze cascabels of two cannons that were captured from the Russians at the siege of Sevastopol. It has since been proven through the use of x-rays of older Victoria Crosses that the metal used for VC's is in fact from antique Chinese guns and not of Russian origin. One theory is that the guns were originally Chinese weapons but the Russians captured them and reused them at Sevastopol. It was also thought that some medals made during the First World War were composed of metal captured from different Chinese guns during the Boxer Rebellion but the original metal was used after the war. It is also believed that another source of metal was used between 1942 and 1945 to create five Second World War VC's when the Sevastopol metal went missing.

The barrels of the cannon in question are stationed outside the Officers' Mess at the Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich. The remaining portion of the only remaining cascabel, weighing 358 oz (10 kg), is stored in a vault maintained by 15 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps at Donnington, Telford. It can only be removed under armed guard. It is estimated that approximately 80 to 85 more VC's could be cast from this source.

Unlike any other award for gallantry the Victoria Cross is not struck, as are coins and many other medals, it is cast. Traditionally it is sand cast in moulds usually containing four specimens at a time. The medals are removed from the sand moulds when the metal has cooled, and then the hand finishing process begins. The obverse and reverse is hand chased even to the minutest detail and the whole medal has a special bronze finish applied at the end of the process. This gives even colour to the medal, because the bronze from which it is cast does not have an attractive appearance.

The suspender bar from which the cross itself is hung, is cast at the same time as the medal and receives the same hand finishing. It has been customary to produce 12 Victoria Crosses at a time.

Originally when Victoria Crosses were requested Hancocks would manufacture the medals, place the correct ribbons on them and deliver them to the War Office. The appropriate number of medals were then returned to Hancocks for the necessary engraving and then returned again to the War Office.

Owing to the great number of Victoria Crosses supplied during the 1914-18 War this practice was discontinued for reasons of efficiency. The engraving was done directly after the manufacturing process was complete. No individual Victoria Cross has been made specifically for an individual award, there being a stock of medals held in reserve.

From time to time official duplicates have been issued to replace some which may have been destroyed or in other ways lost. Such replacements are under the strict control of the Ministry of Defence.

It is understood that there is a stock of Victoria Crosses held on behalf of the Ministry of Defence and it is unlikely that any will need to be manufactured by Hancocks in the near future.