Historic golden egg to be sold at auction in Lincolnshire

An incredibly rare 22 carat gold ‘Cadbury’s Conundrum’ egg from the 1980s will go on auction in Lincolnshire next month, three years after first being sold for over £20,000.

The egg was created in 1983 by the Queen’s official jeweller, Royal Goldsmiths Garrard & Co, as part of a nationwide Creme Egg treasure hunt contest.

It was the secretive prize at the end of the hunt, where 12 caskets containing a scroll were hidden across the country, but this one was an extra special 13th egg.

A closer look at the magnificent Conundrum egg. | Photo: Batemans of Stamford

It weighs 323.6g and was based on the front cover of the Don Shaw book in which the clues to the hunt were kept, depicting the book’s title, Conundrum.

The conundrum egg was first sold by Batemans of Stamford on July 1, 2017 for a then house record auction price of £17,200.

The total price paid was £20,640 when including the 20% buyer’s premium, way clear of the £10,000-£15,000 pre-estimates.

The owner had taken part in the egg hunt in the 1980s and couldn’t believe he was now the proud owner of this famous piece of history.

Sadly, he died in 2020 and the egg was inherited by his family, who have decided to part ways with it and allow Batemans to auction it off once more.

It will go under the hammer in an online only auction on Friday, February 19 in the late afternoon, as part of Bateman’s jewellery and watches, silver and gold sale.

The egg will come in its original box as part of the auction. | Photo: Batemans of Stamford

New pre-sale estimates judge the egg to be worth between £15,000-£20,000 and the lot comes with the egg’s original presentation box, as well as a copy of Conundrum, The Cadbury’s Creme Egg Mystery by Don Shaw.

Managing director at Batemans of Stamford, Greg Bateman, said: “It gives us enormous pleasure to offer this unique and spectacular golden egg once again at Batemans.

“We were greatly saddened to hear the original buyer had passed away, being as he was part of the rich history of our own auction house, and hope that we can do him proud in finding another lucky buyer who loved this spectacular egg as much as he did.”