Coronation Chocolates given to a schoolgirl 121 years ago have been found untouched in their original tin.
The sweet treats were given to Mary Ann Blackmore by her Durham school when she was nine years old.
Special tins of Cadbury’s vanilla chocolates were made to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra on June 26, 1902.
Both monarchs feature on the front of the tin alongside the coronation date. Another label inside states the event, date and royal names.
Mary’s chocolates remained untouched due to “generations of self-restraint” and she kept them as a treasured memento her entire life.
The mint-condition tin was discovered by her family after she died at 96 in 1988.
Mary’s granddaughter Jean Thompson, 72, said: “I’m not sure if the chocolates were given to my grandmother as a prize at school or if every pupil received one.
“Though her family originated from Cornwall, Mary Ann, was born in Sunniside, northwest Durham, and spent all her life there.
“I think the chocolate was regarded as too special to eat, maybe due to generations of self-restraint.
“I was aware of it as a child as something special, an object of curiosity from my nana’s childhood.
“By that time there was no question of eating it, which I guess is why I’ve kept it.
“None of my children are interested in keeping it so, with coronations being a topical subject, it came to mind that a more appreciative home could be found with a collector of such items.”
The chocolates are going under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers’ on July 20 with a guide price of £100-£150 ($129- $194).
Bargain Hunt’s Charles Hanson, who owns Hansons, said: “It’s always amazing to make finds like this.
“When people had very little they treasured things we take for granted now.
“These days, boxes of chocolates are lucky to last a day in most homes, let alone 120 years.
“The chocolates were inside an old chest of drawers. When you open the tin, you can still smell the chocolate.
“The tin bears its original Cadbury’s vanilla chocolate label and wrapped over the chocolate and silver foil is a King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra Coronation label.
“Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate as we know it today was not introduced until 1905.
“You can see from the label that Mary was given vanilla chocolates.”
Cadbury was granted its first royal warrant from Queen Victoria in 1854. It held a royal warrant from Elizabeth II from 1955 to 2022.
Produced in association with SWNS Talker
Edited by Alberto Arellano and Jessi Rexroad Shull
