Costly cuppa as urn sells for thousands

One of Scotland’s oldest coffee urns, dating back to 1742, was sold at auction at Bonhams in Edinburgh yesterday for nearly £19,000.

The decorative silver urn was made in Dundee by silversmith Alexander Johnston, for the Balfour family of Balbirnie in Glenrothes and features the family arms.

Henry Baggot of Bonhams with the urn.