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Pictured: In a letter, dated Sept 30, 1866, Sir Thomas Myddelton Biddulph writes 'Her Majesty desires me to express to you her thanks for the kind spirit with which your letter is written and for the handsome offer you make of the two pictures'.

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.