Where to sell Boer War Chocolate Gift Tins?

Where to sell Queen Victoria Boer War Chocolate Tins?

We are always happy to buy original military items from the Anglo Boer War such as medals, documents, badges, uniforms and especially the Queen Victoria Chocolate gift tins, so if you have inherited one you wish to sell or have a spare in your collection you no longer need please just email us a few photos of what you have for sale to sales@britishmilitarybadges.co.uk and we will get back to you wish a cash offer to buy it. Alternatively click here for our purchasing page.

We have this week just purchased two Boer War Queen Victoria gift tins including a Cadbury one and a Rowntree one with the chocolate still inside which we will be listing for sale in our Militaria category today! The gentlemen who sold it to us inherited them from his Grandfather and the one with chocolate contains an amazing handwritten note about how it had been on board a transport ship that had sunk off the coast of South Africa and remained underwater for many weeks until the military authorities managed to salvage the contents of the ship.

If you have any Boer War militaria you wish to sell please get in touch with us for a cash offer.

In 1899, Queen Victoria wanted to send a gift of chocolate in tin boxes to her troops in South Africa. She wanted each box to be inscribed with "South Africa 1900" and a message in her own handwriting that read "I wish you a happy New Year." To fulfil this request, she commissioned three major chocolate manufacturers in the country: J S Fry & Sons, Cadbury Brothers Limited, and Rowntree and Company Limited. These companies produced a total of 123,000 tins by the end of 1900. As Quakers, they refused to accept payment for the order and instead offered to donate the chocolate as a gift. The Queen personally funded the production of the tin boxes, which were designed by Barclay and Fry Limited of Southwark. However, each chocolate manufacturer used different suppliers for the tins, resulting in variations in size, colour, and printing of the Queen's portrait on the lid. The tins had rounded corners to make it easier to store in a soldier's backpack and contained half a pound of vanilla chocolate. The tins were highly valued and some soldiers even preserved them with the chocolate inside, even sending them home for safekeeping.