Rare Cadbury Golden Egg Sells for £123,500, Shattering Auction Records

A rare Cadbury's golden egg, commissioned 43 years ago for a national treasure hunt, has sold for a staggering £123,500. The 22-carat, 3-inch high egg, titled 'Cuckoo Cuckoo', was created by royal goldsmiths Garrard & Co. of London.

In 1983, a dozen certificates entitling the finder to a 250g decorative egg were buried across Britain in perspex caskets. Participants had to solve cryptic clues in a book titled 'Conundrum - The Cadbury's Creme Egg Mystery' to locate the secret sites of the small golden eggs. The contest was ultimately called off due to numerous complaints from landowners whose private property and protected sites were disturbed by treasure hunters.

Six of the 12 golden eggs were claimed before the competition and its associated advertising campaign were suspended. One of these discovered eggs, found by Clive Pinder in Cricket St Thomas, Somerset, was recently put up for auction at Batemans Auctioneers in Lincolnshire.

It was initially expected to fetch between £15,000 and £20,000. However, an undisclosed bidder purchased the egg for £123,500 on August 1, significantly exceeding the higher estimate and setting a new record price for a golden egg, surpassing the previous record of £31,000 set in 2021. Auctioneers described the final price as 'absolutely incredible'.

The 'Cuckoo Cuckoo' egg is engraved and enamelled in translucent green and blue, depicting a cuckoo in a tree surrounded by men looking up. Mr. Pinder had previously sold the egg for £6,500 in 2018, and the subsequent owner held onto it before selling it through Batemans Auctioneers.

A spokesman for Batemans Auctioneers stated that the owner wished to sell the piece to share the 'wonder and joy at owning such an incredible thing'. Greg Bateman of the auction firm referred to the Conundrum eggs as a 'fascinating piece of British cultural history'.