Queen Victoria chocolate bar ... emerges for sale

Queen Victoria chocolate bar gifted to soldiers in Boer War emerges for sale

A white chocolate bar gifted by Queen Victoria to soldiers in the Boer War has emerged for sale. The monarch sent the tins of chocolates to British men fighting in South Africa as a Christmas gift. Now one tin has been unearthed with the plain chocolate still inside.

In 1899 Queen Victoria asked Cadbury, which held a Royal Warrant as suppliers of cocoa and chocolate products, to produce the 123,000 tins. The request presented the chocolatiers with an ethical dilemma as Richard and George Cadbury were Quakers and pacifists who opposed the war.They did not want to be seen as profiting from the fighting but they also did not want to say no to the Queen so they formed a temporary partnership with their two rivals, Fry's and Rowntree's, who were also Quakers.

All three companies agreed to produce the chocolate for the special tins and donate them free of charge with no branding on them. But the redoubtable monarch was not happy with this as she wanted the soldiers to know she was sending them the best quality British chocolate. In the end the makers agreed to put a company name on the chocolate but the tins remained unbranded.

The box, which measures 6ins by 3.5ins, is painted red, gold and blue and has an embossed picture of the Queen with her Royal cypher on the left and 'South Africa 1900' on the right.
Written across the bottom in her handwriting are the words: "I wish you a happy new year, Victoria RI". The 118-year-old chocolate and tin are being sold in an online auction held by Scunthorpe-based Eddisons CJM Auctioneers and has an estimate of £120 ($159).