Rare Rowntree’s chocolate auctioned in Yorkshire town

The box – which originally contained just a single bar of Rowntree’s chocolate – is one of the rarest commemorative wares produced for the royal event.

Auctioneers at David Duggleby believe it is only the second to be seen in an auction this century.

For the coronation, Rowntree’s of York – alongside all the country’s major chocolate manufacturers – produced thousand of souvenir coronation tins which were distributed across the nation.

They were decorated with painted portraits of the King Edward and Queen Alexandra.

The King and Queen supplied tins of the Rowntree chocolate for Coronation Dinners that were arranged for ‘the poor of London’ and for a Royal housemaids tea.

But the confectionery company also commissioned silversmiths Cooper Brothers and Sons from Sheffield to produce a small number of solid silver versions.

Holly Hammond with the 125-year-old silver chocolate tin made for the coronation of King Edward VII (Image: David Duggleby Auctioneers/SWNS)

The King and Queen were given silver versions and the others went to members of the Rowntree family.

Prior to bidding opening on the lot auctioneer Coralie Thomson said there had been “lots of pre-auction interest in this one”.

And following a short bidding war at David Duggleby in Scarborough, the gavel was raise and the Edwardian tin was sold for the huge figure.

Read next:

Holly Hammond from auctioneers said the item was “incredibly rare”.

She said: “This is in a completely different league, about as rare as it gets.

“The only other example that we have been able to find ever going under the hammer was back in 2007, in London, a box that was reportedly given by a member of the Rowntree family to their coachman and passed down in his family.

“This box retains its original red leather case and is in quite remarkable condition.

“It bears the Cooper Brothers stamp and is hallmarked Sheffield 1901, the year before the Coronation – which brings us on to a surprise, the fact that the date of the Coronation emblazoned on the tin, June 26th 1902, is wrong.”

“That’s down to the fact that the King and Queen were due to be crowned on June 26th but King Edward was taken ill with an abdominal abscess that required surgery shortly before the date and the ceremony was postponed for six weeks.

“The coronation did not actually happen until 9th August.”

Holly added that it is was a “blessing” that the chocolate was no longer in the tin.