WW1 British Queen Mary Tin

WW1 British Queen Mary Tin only, in VG+++ condition. On 14 October 1914, George V's 17-year-old daughter, Mary, Princess Royal, launched an appeal to fund a Christmas gift for every member of the armed forces. The funding generated was used to manufacture small boxes made of brass; however, due to metal shortages in the later stages of the war some tins were made from plated base metals or alloys. Each tin was decorated with an image of Mary and other military and imperial symbols along with the names of the UK's then allies. The standard tin consisted of the box itself, twenty cigarettes in a yellow monogrammed wrapper, an ounce of pipe tobacco, a pipe, a Christmas card and a photograph of Princess Mary. It was meant to also include a tinder lighter, but a shortage of these meant that in the case of the army they were often substituted with other gifts and those in the navy received a bullet pencil. The bullet pencil consisted of a silver tipped pencil  in a case made from a spent .303 cartridge recovered from UK firing ranges and marked with an M.