1953 Cadbury Coronation Chocolate Tin in Royal Blue with Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II

On the morning of 2 June 1953, children up and down the country were lined up in school halls and handed a tin exactly like this one. Inside were ten Cadbury Dairy Milk Neapolitans and a small card wishing them well from Bournville. The chocolates went by lunchtime. The tin, in most cases, went into a drawer and stayed there for seventy years.

This is the royal blue version, one of three designs Cadbury made for local councils to give to schoolchildren on Coronation Day. The lid carries a portrait of the young Queen in a gilt oval frame, a crown above, the royal crest below, and a red and gold ribbon reading Queen Elizabeth II Coronation 2nd June 1953. Around it are gold fleur de lys, Tudor roses, shamrocks and thistles for the four nations. The base is stamped Cadbury Bros Ltd Bournville England.

It measures 17 cm by 12 cm and stands 3 cm high, the right size for a desk drawer, a dressing table or a bedside. Ours has been holding stamps and paperclips for the photographs and it is very good at that. It would also be perfect for a set of sewing pins, buttons, tea bags, or as a small gift box with something inside for someone who remembers the day.

Condition is honest for a tin that has done seventy years of service. The lid colours are still deep and the portrait is clear, with some scratches and light rubbing to the blue at the edges. The base and interior show wear and a little spotting to the plating, all visible in the photographs. The hinge works properly and the lid closes true.

We think this is the best kind of royal memorabilia, the sort that was actually used by ordinary people rather than kept behind glass. If you have a grandparent who was at school in 1953, this will get a story out of them.