‘Holy grail’: Tobacco tin tracing roots back to Kingsville fetches $55K at auction

A tobacco tin went for $55,000 this weekend. The tin is a collector’s piece that ties Essex County to tobacco production.

A glimpse into Windsor-Essex’s past in the tobacco industry fetched $55,000 at auction over the weekend.

A 3 Strikes cut plug pocket tobacco tin from the defunct Erie Tobacco Company sold at an auction in New Hamburg, Ont., on Sunday.

Ben Lennox, the head of sales at Miller & Miller Auctions Ltd., told CTV News the sale exceeded estimates indicating the tin would sell for about $12,000.

“There was a number of bidders active on the tin, but what took it to the end and really to the stratosphere was two folks that really wanted this,” Lennox said.

The tin was found by a Kingsville couple who discovered the piece of history in their walls during renovations.

“The reality of it is people don’t necessarily know what they have in their homes, and there’s treasures everywhere,” Lennox said.

The lithographed tin would have been used to store tobacco or cigarettes and features an image of a baseball player and ET Co. on the jersey. Erie Tobacco Company operated a factory in Kingsville.

“The reality of it is the gold that is on these tins oftentimes would have oxidized to the point where it almost rusts, and in this case, there was very little, if no rust. The gold was mainly there,” Lennox explained.

“The image was striking, that on top of the fact that it has crossover collectible appeal into the baseball world just made it a holy grail.”

According to Lennox, this marked a record amount for the sale of a tin in Canada. He noted the treasure will stay in the country after being purchased by a Canadian.