Earl of Uxbridge gold freedom box to make $108,500?

A George IV 18 karat gold Irish freedom box belonging to the Earl of Uxbridge is valued at £50,000-70,000 ($77,485-108,480) ahead of a sale at Bonhams London.

The lot will cross the block in the Wellington, Waterloo & Napoleonic Wars auction in London on April 1.

gold Uxbridge Bonhams
The Earl of Uxbridge lost his leg during the Battle of Waterloo

The earl famously lost a leg to a cannonball at the Battle of Waterloo. He is perhaps best remembered for his immortal exchange with Wellington in the immediate aftermath.

He reportedly said: "By God, sir, I've lost my leg!" which Wellington met with: "By God, sir, so you have!"

After the battle he was taken to a local village, where the damaged remainder of his leg was amputated (this was the pre-anaesthetic era). Uxbridge apparently stated during the surgery: "the knives appear somewhat blunt."

The rest of his leg was given to the owner of the house in which the amputation took place, who promptly set up a shrine in his back garden and charged visitors to see it.

Many of the most important people in Europe, including the King of Prussia, travelled to view the limb. At some point someone wrote on the headstone: "Here lies the Marquis of Anglesey's limb; The Devil will have the remainder of him."

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