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Pictured: In a letter, dated Sept 22, 1866, Edward Fletcher writes 'Sir, I have held in my possession for many years a picture in enamel of Her Majesty the Queen by a London artist'

A pair of gold and silver medals gifted by Queen Victoria to a humble wine merchant has been discovered in a desk bureau after 156 years.

Victoria offered them as a token of gratitude to the tradesman, who had sent her two enamel portraits of her and her late husband, in October 1866.

The miniature portraits struck a chord with the monarch who was freshly mourning Prince Albert after his death just five years earlier.