A Second House Record Hammer Price Achieved by Batemans of Stamford for the sale of the Cadbury's Conundrum Egg

Friday 19th February saw a frenzy in the Batemans of Stamford Auction House, with a winner on the easyliveAuction bidding platform coming out triumphant again!

There was no shortage of the incredible items that went under the hammer in the Batemans of Stamford catalogue. The Jewellery & Watches, Silver & Gold Sale started at 4 pm on Friday 19^th February. Indeed, the final lot, No. 137, drew the most interest, this being the Cadbury’s Conundrum Egg.

Cadburys is currently celebrating 50 years of the beloved Creme Egg with an in-store campaign. It offers consumers the chance to win £5,000 if they unwrap a golden chocolate Creme Egg.

That may sound great, but perhaps you may recall the fantastic Cadbury's Creme Egg Conundrum treasure hunt, which took place in the mid-'80s. Twelve caskets, each with a scroll inside, were hidden across the country. Clues to the secret locations were concealed with the pages of a book written by Don Shaw. Readers were tasked to locates the clues, solve the riddles and thus find the hidden casket. Finding the casket meant winning the prize of a genuine golden egg.

What you may not know is that there was actually another secret egg. This thirteenth egg, also created by Royal Goldsmiths Garrard & Co, was much larger than its cousins. The Conundrum Egg weighs in at a whopping 323.6g and stands an impressive 8.3cm high. Its design pays tribute to the books' cover and incorporates small elements from each of the twelve clues. 

This egg was not part of the twelve hidden ones. It was instead offered as winnings to just one lucky Cadbury’s retailer in a private draw as a reward for helping with the cross-country promotion.

The sale on 19th February was not the first time Batemans of Stamford has had the pleasure of selling this impressive Cadbury's Conundrum egg. It sold for well over estimate in its initial debut under the Batemans of Stamford hammer in July of 2017. This sale day saw the hammer fall on the golden wonder for £17,200, smashing its £10,000 - £15,000 estimate. At the time, this sale also set a house record hammer price.

But could Batemans of Stamford Auctioneers do it again?

Bidding on the day started at £19,000 with an easyliveAuction bidder; two auto-bids and a subsequent telephone bid at £20,000. After this, the fun really began with all the bidding taking place online on easyliveAuction.com. The gavel finally fell at £31,000, bringing the total price with Buyers Premium (BP) to £37,200. Batemans of Stamford has set another house record!

But we bet it won’t just be the seller or Batemans of Stamford who are feeling smug. The winning bidder used easyliveAuction.com and paid an initial flat fee of only £3.00. This exclusive option to play an initial flat bidding fee meant that when the gavel fell, the winner bidder saved an astonishing £1,838.40. This colossal saving came because the buyer was not hit with the internet surcharge as they would have been had used another bidding platform.

While you may not be able to get your hands on the Cadbury's Conundrum Egg, you could find another absolute gem and save yourself a bundle of cash by registering here and using the flat fee option!