Golden Cadbury’s egg sold at auction for £37,200

A golden egg made for a Cadbury’s treasure hunt in 1983 has sold at auction for £37,200.

Cadbury’s commissioned 12 golden eggs as part of its Creme Egg Conundrum, with participants solving cryptic clues to guide them to 12 secret locations across Britain.

There they could dig up a certificate entitling them to one of the golden eggs.

But the competition had to be called off after complaints that people were digging up private land as they searched for the prizes.

The 22-carat gold egg which was sold at auctioneers Batemans of Stamford, in Lincolnshire, on Friday is a larger version of the 12 golden eggs.

This special 13th egg was awarded to a Cadbury’s retailer via a private draw for helping with the nationwide promotion.

It weighs just over 11oz (323.6g), is 3.3in (8.3cm) tall and was commissioned by Cadbury’s from royal goldsmiths Garrard & Co.

It is based on the front cover of the Cadbury’s Conundrum clue book, and incorporates elements of each of the 12 riddles which were intended to guide people to the secret sites where certificates were buried.

Batemans originally sold the egg at auction in 2017 for £20,640.

After the death of the buyer, his family decided to sell it at the same auction house and it fetched £37,200 on Friday, exceeding its pre-sale estimate of £15,000 to £20,000.

Managing director Greg Bateman said: “We hope the new buyer enjoys this incredible piece of confectionary history for decades to come, and we can’t wait to see if any more of the original 12 come to light – any current owners know where to find us!”

The sale price includes the 20% buyer’s premium.