Uneaten 120-year-old chocolate tin to be sold in auction

An unopened box of chocolates, made by the Cadbury company to mark the coronation of Britain's King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in June 26, 1902, will go up for auction.

The tin can was gifted to a then-9-year-old girl named Mary Ann Blackmore at her school in Durham in that year, but she never ate the special treat and instead decided to keep it to remember the momentous event.

"Back in that time, this was a real treat, children never got chocolate," Morven Fairlie of Hansons Auctioneers told Sky News. "It was obviously such a special gift to this little girl that she thought she couldn't even touch it."

The vanilla-flavored chocolates were later passed down through Mary Ann's family until her granddaughter, 72-year-old Jean Thompson, brought the tin to Hanson's Auctioneers in Derby.

The chocolate box was passed down in the family

Thompson, thought her family saw the chocolates as "too special to eat," according to Hansons. "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," Thompson said. 

“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," Thompson added.

The commemorative chocolate box features pictures of the two royals on the lid and is expected to fetch between £100-£200 GBP at the auction.

“It depends on who collects royal memorabilia, and who wants to collect things from this time,” Fairlie told the website the messenger. “It may make more, sometimes you get a few bidders, people who want a piece of history, and the price could rocket.”

The lucky buyer won't, however, get to enjoy the once delicious taste of the vanilla-chocolate confection.

“Nobody’s going to be eating it,” Fairlie said. “If you do open the tin, it does smell of chocolate, but I wouldn’t want to risk it.”