To obtain that egg you had to search all over the country, to locate a casket containing a certificate, entitling the finder to claim the valuable prize. A dozen were hidden at secret locations, with clues to their whereabouts included in a book written by Don Shaw. The egg designs were unique, based on the regions where they were hidden.
Despite this, the Cadbury’s Conundrum competition proved so popular that it was eventually called off after historic sites and private land started to become targets for diggers. Not all caskets – for 12 eggs - had been claimed by then.
One of those original treasure hunters had to wait 34 years before claiming his egg, along with having to pay a hammer price of £17,200 (or £20,640 including buyer’s premium) at a Lincolnshire auction. The 323.6gm egg hallmarked for Garrard & Co, London 1983, was estimated at £10,000-15,000.
Stamford saleroom Batemans says the buyer on July 1 “was looking for an interesting investment opportunity”. It was his first auction.
Cadbury's golden conundrum egg sold by Batemans at auction for a hammer price of £17,200.
Big seller
Batemans managing director Greg Bateman told ATG this result is the second highest for the saleroom. “Our house record is £17,500 for a French commode some 10 years ago in a Country House Sale,” he added.
This particular egg was not one that could be found by the treasure hunters, however. This is the 13th and largest example and was awarded to a Cadbury’s retailer after a prize draw. It was being offered on the market for the first time at Batemans. It is larger than all the other Conundrum eggs.
The enamel decoration is based on the front cover of Shaw’s book, incorporating elements of each riddle, and the egg was offered with its original presentation box and a 1983 copy of Conundrum, The Cadbury’s Creme Egg Mystery by Shaw.
For solutions to the 12 egg searches, see https://treasureclub.net/publichunts/conundrum/index.html
The 'more gold' egg
In June 2012 London auction house Bonhams offered the 12th egg, The Isle of Man egg (the 12th mystery in the book ended up at Maugold – ‘more gold’ - churchyard on the isle). However, on a £12,000-15,000 estimate, this is not listed as sold on the Bonhams results list.
