Princess Mary Tin

[douglas2496]

Hi everyone, I have for some years been looking for a reasonably priced Princess Mary tin in good condition with most of its original guilding intact. I already had one, which has been passed down in the family, which is heavily worn. I was pleased to get a better one in my local antique store yesterday for a reasonable cost.

In case any of you are not familiar with these tins, they were given to all British servicemen in 1914/15 as a Christmas or new year gift. They were paid for by public subscription, overseen by HRH The Princess Mary. Contents varied, but some of the most common can be seen here, including a Christmas card, a picture of Princess Mary, cigarettes and tobacco, and a pencil concealed within a .303 round.

[Jerry B]

That appears to be a very good condition example Douglas, better than mine for which I have no contents.

[ynot]

Great purchase Doug!

It's annoying seeing the same person selling the contents separately but when you see what the card pencil holder sells for on its own, or even a few smokes, it's no surprise they're sometimes broken up.

[CBH]

A beautiful example Doug , I've given these as Christmas gifts a couple time . As far I'm concerned it's about the only WWI item you can give a woman ( non-collector ) and have her Love it . I had to specify non-collector , because there are a few ladies out there who love military items , but as a generalization . This item has mass appeal . Thanks for sharing .

[The Devil's Bank]

I wouldn't mind one of these myself..

How much would a complete example with all it's contents be worth?

Did some have a bar of Chocolate inside also?

[CBH]

Yes there was a non-smoker version used with chocolate instead of smokes .

There is a great thread with some links on the forum somewhere .

[douglas2496]

Thanks for the comments. I imagine a complete tin is worth a couple of hundred pounds, but that's just a guess. Theres a reasonably complete one on ebay at the moment;

Complete Princess Mary Tin 1914 (ALL GENUINE!) | eBay

So you could see what that goes for.

[Mark Holden]

A good thread on this subject here

Princess Mary's gift tin 1914

[The Devil's Bank]

"I imagine a complete tin is worth a couple of hundred pounds, but that's just a guess.
There's a reasonably complete one on E-bay at the moment"

It went for £166.00..

[Adrian Stevenson]

Here is a nice Yorkshire Regt Husband and Wife (War worker) group including a tin I have coming up for sale at work.

Cheers, Ade.