Cadbury’s Golden ‘Conundrum’ Egg created in 1983 by Garrard & Co.
Batemans Auctioneers & Valuers
A 22k gold “Conundrum” egg created for Cadbury’s Creme Egg treasure hunt in the 1980s has sold for £123,500 ($166,600), setting a world auction record for a bejeweled egg of its type.
Created by Garrard & Co. in 1983, the egg sold for nearly six times its pre-sale estimate at Batemans Auctioneers & Valuers in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, on August 1. It also set a record for the auction house.
In addition, the egg sold for more than 18 times the price it achieved at auction eight years ago.
The “Cuckoo Cuckoo” egg is one of 12 individually designed 22k gold eggs commissioned by Cadbury’s for its nationwide treasure hunt. Its rarity, along with its connection to one of Britain’s most memorable advertising campaigns of the 1980s, sparked intense bidding, according to the auction house.
Hallmarked Garrard & Co., London, 1983, the approximately three-inch-high, nine-ounce egg is enameled in translucent green and blue. Its elaborate design depicts a cuckoo nesting in a tree, with seven men and women standing among the trees below, staring and pointing upward. Seven wheatsheaves are engraved on the reverse.
The egg was offered with its original green leather presentation box, the Perspex casket in which it was discovered and a copy of Conundrum: The Cadbury’s Creme Egg Mystery, written by Don Shaw, illustrated by Nick Price and published by Hamlyn in 1984.
The full lot for the Cadbury’s 22k gold “Conundrum” egg created by Garrard & Co.
Batemans Auctioneers & Valuers
Cadbury’s launched the Conundrum treasure hunt as part of a promotional campaign for its Creme Eggs. The company buried 12 Perspex caskets at secret locations throughout the U.K., each containing a clue to one of the 22k gold eggs. Treasure hunters had to decipher the riddles and illustrations in the Conundrum book to locate the caskets.
Once a casket was found, the successful treasure hunter was instructed to telephone Cadbury’s and provide a special passphrase to verify the discovery. The finder would then receive the corresponding gold egg at a later ceremony.
In 1983, Clive Pinder of Dorset discovered the casket containing “Cuckoo Cuckoo” at Cricket St Thomas in Somerset after solving the clues in the Conundrum book. Pinder later sold the egg at auction in 2018 for a hammer price of £6,500. The current owner subsequently acquired it and held it until this month’s sale.
“The Conundrum eggs are a fascinating piece of British cultural history,” said Greg Bateman, managing director and senior valuer at Batemans Auctioneers & Valuers. “Cadbury’s created one of the most memorable advertising campaigns of the 1980s, capturing the imagination of millions with a nationwide treasure hunt that combined storytelling, mystery and the excitement of discovery.”
The latest sale represents a substantial increase over the egg’s 2018 auction price, reflecting the premium placed on its combination of precious materials, craftsmanship, rarity and cultural history.
The company known as Cadbury today, was founded in 1824 and is best known for products including Dairy Milk chocolate and Creme Eggs. The company was known as Cadbury’s from 1824 until 2003.
Batemans previously sold the “secret 13th” 22k gold egg twice. First in July 2017 for a hammer price of £17,200 and again in February 2021 for £31,000. That larger egg, also commissioned by Cadbury’s from Garrard & Co. is based on the front cover of the Conundrum book, it incorporated elements from each of the twelve original riddles.