200-year-old Battle of Trafalgar ship's biscuit to be auctioned - by Mr Pepys!
Post date: Apr 27, 2018 1:28:32 PM
From BBC News website
A 213-year-old biscuit dating from the Battle of Trafalgar is to be sold at auction.
The biscuit, which belonged to a sailor on board HMS Defence in 1805, is believed to be the oldest surviving ship's biscuit in the world.
It is thought to predate one from 1852 on show at a museum in Denmark.
Auctioneer Oliver Pepys said it was "remarkable" the biscuit has survived, adding: "I have never seen anything quite like it."
The ship's biscuit belonged to Able Seaman Thomas Fletcher, who was a gunner on HMS Defence. He brought it back with him from his days at sea.
It was kept by the Fletcher family until 2005, when it was bought by a private collector at an auction at Sotheby's in London.