A lemon from the 18th century recently went under the hammer in England
When sorting through our elder relatives' possessions and tidying up their houses, we may encounter different odds and ends. From treasured mementoes to old junk, one has to often sort through a wide range of things. A family in England recently came across a bizarre item at the back of a chest that reportedly belonged to their uncle. An old lemon was discovered in the 19th-century cabinet. "Old" probably doesn't do justice to the age of this fruit - as the message engraved on it suggests it's from 1739!
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The full message on the lemon reads, "Given By Mr P Lu Franchini Nov 4 1739 to Miss E Baxter." The dried citrus fruit is around 2 inches wide and brown with age. The family approached Brettells Auctioneers in Shropshire to sell the chest and were stunned to learn what had been inside it all this time. According to UPI, a specialist was photographing the piece of furniture when the lemon was found in the back of a drawer.
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As per The Daily Mail, the owner of Brettells Auctioneers, David Brettell, has speculated that the lemon "must have been a love token brought back from colonial India." The Mail also reported that the auction house decided to sell the lemon "for a bit of fun," and did not anticipate the interest it went on to attract. The bidding started at GBP 40 (approx INR 4200) and was finally sold to a collector for GBP 1416 (approx INR 1.5 lakh). This final figure includes the auctioneer's fees. The cabinet sold for only GBP 32 (approx INR 3200).
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