Biscuit tin forgotten for 25 years sells for £3,100 at auction

Owners of rare item ‘surprised and delighted’ by sale

A biscuit tin that was left to gather dust at the back of a kitchen cupboard for 25 years has sold at auction for more than £3,000.

The Huntley and Palmers biscuit box, which dates back to the late 1920s, depicts a double-decker London bus bound for Liverpool Street.

The tin was owned by a retired couple from Nottingham who tucked the object away in a cupboard and forgot all about it.

The pair, who wish to remain anonymous, recently came across the item when they moved house and decided to take it to an antique valuation event to find out more about its history.

They couple were left stunned when experts revealed it was a 1929 prized collectors’ item and was estimated to fetch between £1,000 and £1,500 at auction.

However, when the item eventually went up for sale at Hansons Auctioneers on 19 November, it sold for an impressive £3,100.

The couple described their tale as “truly amazing” and said they were both “surprised and delighted” by the price it sold for.

“To say we were absolutely gobsmacked when we first found out it could be worth £1,000 to £1,500 is the understatement of the year – and it sold for even more,” the pair said.

(Hansons / SWNS (Hansons / SWNS)

“We just took it along to a free valuation event with a couple of other items to find out a bit more about it. I’ve kept it in a cupboard for 25 years.

“I inherited it from my mum and she got it from her cousin who used to run a corner shop in the Doncaster area a long time ago.”

The tin was assessed by Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, at the free event in East Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, in October.

Hanson said he was “amazed” when he saw the tin and explained that it dates back to the start of the Great Depression in 1929.

“It’s survived unscathed through numerous world events including the Second World War which lasted from 1939 to 1945,” Hanson said.

“Thanks to the ingenuity of their designs, Huntley & Palmers biscuit tins became as highly prized as the products they contained. Now they are collectors’ items.

“From miniature replicas of vehicles to tins that could be re-used as household objects, the firm came up with ways to make their biscuit tins extra special.”