Rare box of Winston Churchill’s cigars sell for almost $20,000

By Dean Murray via SWNS

A rare box of Winston Churchill's iconic cigars have sold for almost $20k.

Ten of the the wartime prime minister's personal La Corona cigars sold at an auction in Massachusetts this week.

According to Boston-based RR Auction, Churchill was reportedly first supplied with Corona cigars with his name on the band in 1940 as a generous gesture of support by New York businessman Samuel Kaplan.

The Cuban cigar became an integral component of Churchill's public image - he smoked as many as ten a day, and was rarely pictured without one.

A rare box of Winston Churchill's iconic cigars have sold for almost $20,000. (RR Auction via SWNS)

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Originally offered with an estimate of $8,500, the sale ended Wednesday, August 10, at $19,159.

The original recipient was given the cigars by Churchill, while employed in an official capacity as a wartime attendant between 1940 - 1945, according to the brother of the recipient in a letter of provenance accompanying the sale.

The cigars by Álvarez López y Cía of Havana, Cuba, with each cigar featuring a red band imprinted in white with the prime minister's name: Winston Churchill.

“The Cuban cigar became an integral component of Churchill's public image—he smoked as many as ten a day, and was rarely pictured without one,” said Bobby Livingston, Executive VP at RR Auction.

The cigars are accompanied by a letter of provenance dated April 21, 1980, reading: "This is to certify that these cigars with the 'Winston Churchill' band remain from those given by Mr. Winston Churchill himself from time to time to my brother when he was attendant in an official capacity upon Mr. Churchill during the years 1940 to 1945."