Q: I have a tin box which at a glance looks like it's a set of books. There are eight volumes in a line, red in colour with gold decoration, and there is a strap around them holding them together, but the whole thing is a fake, it's actually a tin box with a lift up lid. I have never seen one before. Is it worth anything?

Mr E.

A. This box was issued about 100 years ago by the biscuit firm of Huntley and Palmer. They made an extraordinary range of novelty biscuit tins, some of them in the form of vehicles or windmills and all these tins are now very collectable.

Although popular at the time, many examples have been discarded over the years as they have either rusted or become damaged, so surviving examples in good condition do fetch significant amounts.

This particular example is worth around £200, but some of the more novel examples particularly ones with moving parts such as windmills, can fetch more than a £1,000.