A rare Cadbury chocolate bar dating from the Boer War is set to be sold at auction in England next week, with experts predicting it could fetch more than £200 (about R4 500).
BBC reported that the 126-year-old chocolate bar was one of thousands commissioned by Queen Victoria in 1900 for British soldiers fighting in South Africa during the Second Boer War, alongside other major chocolatiers of the era.
The bar, still housed in its original tin, will go under the hammer on Tuesday, 19 May at Lockdales Auctioneers & Valuers in Martlesham Heath, Suffolk. It has come from a private collector and is expected to sell for between £200 and £240.
According to the BBC, Chris Elmy, cataloguer at Lockdales, described the item as a significant piece of history. “The public may be familiar with the Princess Mary Christmas tins of World War One, but this Boer War issue was the precursor,” he said.
“To have the contents intact is very rare, if unappetising.”
The chocolate bar, which has been divided into six rectangular sections, shows signs of age with some pieces broken and foil still stuck to the surface. The Cadbury logo remains embossed on each chocolate rectangle.
Queen Victoria commissioned the major chocolate manufacturers Cadbury, JS Fry and Rowntree to produce specially designed tins for troops serving in South Africa. The metal containers bore the inscription “South Africa 1900” and, written in a copy of the Queen’s handwriting, “I wish you a happy new year”.
By the end of 1900, more than 120 000 tins had been produced and distributed to soldiers.
The Second Boer War was fought between 1899 and 1902 between the British Empire and two independent Boer states who were vying for control of South Africa.
