These are the gold medals that Aston Villa fans are hoping to see around the necks of their footballing heroes on Sunday.

Produced in the heart of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, 50 gold and silver medals have been designed, stamped and engraved ready for the Carling Cup Final.

They have now been sent off to Wembley ready for Aston Villa’s clash with Manchester United. For fifty years, Hockley based Vaughtons, has been making the winner and runner up medals for the cup final.

The firm was established back in 1819 and grew to be the largest medal maker in the world, at one point employing more than 600 people at its factory in Well Street.

Vaughtons managing director Stephen Hobbis said: “We’ve been making these medals for fifty years, it is an honour for us.

“We were asked last July to start the design work. It has the date and an image of the league cup on it, and on the reverse side is an image of Wembley.

“I would love to see Villa wearing the gold, I want it to go to a Midlands team. We’ve got about half and half Villa and Blues fans here, but everyone is agreed I think that we are backing Villa.”

The company boasts a strong footballing pedigree.

They started making medals for the Football League in 1911 when former Villa player Howard Vaughton began work at the factory, which was owned by his father.

The celebrated player became a silversmith after his footballing career, which saw him play in 26 FA cup matches as well as being capped for England.

They are also responsible for creating the oldest existing version of the FA Cup.

The firm created the finely crafted cup in 1896 as a replacement for the original, which had been stolen while in the care of holders Aston Villa a year earlier.

The four-kilo trophy cost just £25 to make but was sold to David Gold, the owner of Birmingham City FC, for an amazing £480,000 at auction five years ago.

They also made medals for the 1908 London Olympics.