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Pictured: The gold medal was originally designed as a nautical life-saving award for foreign nationals but was 'repurposed' as a gift to Edward.

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.