Fabulous WW1 1914 Princess Mary Fund Gift Box Complete with Type C issue contents ( Bullet Pencil on orginal card and original New Year Card)

This includes the original grease proof paper in which the bullet pencil was originally wrapped and card upon which it was stored. This has been stored in tissue paper and away from the air for 100 years which accounts for its stunning condition. This is not a copy. It is one hundred per cent the real thing and would make a wonderful "antique" Xmas present for 2014!

The idea for gifts for men at the front was not new. See my Queen Victoria 1900 gift box complete with chocolate listed separately!

The contents varied depending on your unit and location. The contents here are exactly as given to troops located in the British Isles and is exactly how it came to me. Only those serving overseas received the cigarettes, pipe tobacco, or for non-smokers, boiled sweets (acid tablets) and the photo of HRH or the 1914 Christmas card. I will include a photocopy of an excellent article on tins gifted to the troops in WW1.

The tin itself is approximately 5¡È long by 3¨ù¡± wide by 1¨ù¡± deep with a hinged lid. The surface of the lid is decorated with a portrait of Princess Mary, surrounded by a laurel wreath and with an ¡®M¡¯ either side. At the top, are the words ¡®Imperium Britannicum¡¯ with a sword and scabbard either side, and at the bottom are the words ¡®Christmas 1914¡Ç, flanked by the bows of battleships forging through a heavy sea. In the corners, are the names of the Allies: Belgium, Japan, Montenegro and Servia ( Serbia ); with France and Russia either side.

Code: 54077