on the upside,the bands are in good condition.

[El Presidente]

 

Rare box of ten of Winston Churchill's personal 'La Corona' cigars by Álvarez López y Cía of Havana, Cuba, 10″ x 8″ x 1.75″, with each cigar featuring a red band imprinted in white with the prime minister's name: "Winston Churchill." In very good condition, with flaking to the cigars, heavy wear to the box, and a tear to the "Álvarez López y Cía" paper insert inside.



Accompanied by a letter of provenance dated April 21, 1980, in full: "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."



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.

 

 

 

 

 

[rckymtn22]

They need to drop a few zeros. Worth about $1. Keep the bands and compost the rest.  

[SCgarman]

Are some that desperate for money that they think trying to sell this worthless garbage will net them a big payday? Where do you find these great once in a lifetime deals Rob?!

[anacostiakat]

WOW.  Honestly, I would not pay .85 cents for those.  

[NSXCIGAR]

So the brother of the guy that got them from Churchill signs the letter of authenticity? That reminds me--my brother gave me this Honus Wagner baseball card. I will write up the letter. 

Also I'm not sure if it is these specific cigars being referred to here but how would a NY businessman control what La Corona did? He ordered them from La Corona with Churchill's name on them to give them to him later? Also Churchill did not visit the US until Dec 41, so that date is off. 

Makes more sense this was some kind of commemorative release from La Corona, maybe some given to him at the time. I've never seen that band before so probably not a large release or publicly available. I doubt they would print bands for a few boxes however. 

 

[ATGroom]

11 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Also I'm not sure if it is these specific cigars being referred to here but how would a NY businessman control what La Corona did? He ordered them from La Corona with Churchill's name on them to give them to him later? Also Churchill did not visit the US until Dec 41, so that date is off. 

Makes more sense this was some kind of commemorative release from La Corona, maybe some given to him at the time. I've never seen that band before so probably not a large release or publicly available. I doubt they would print bands for a few boxes however. 

Excerpt from "The Origin of the Churchill Cigar" by Simon Chase.

A New York businessman named Samuel Kaplan, who was so impressed by Churchill’s single-handed stand against the Nazis that he resolved at his own expense to keep the British Prime Minister supplied with first class Havanas. Kaplan’s gifts were large La Coronas, 5,000 of which he had secured from Havana in the middle of 1940. The first batch was sent to the British Embassy in Washington towards the end of the year to coincide with one of Churchill’s frequent visits to the USA. Further deliveries were sent directly to London causing Churchill to refer to them in a letter to Kaplan as “Those wonderful cigars that have cheered my long path through the war.” In another letter thanking Kaplan for his generosity Churchill reported: “You will be interested to know that the bands on which you have had my name printed are regarded as souvenirs and gladly accepted wherever I go.” This is the first record of the name Churchill appearing on a cigar.

[NSXCIGAR]

Should have googled it. 

So there appears to have been more than 200 boxes produced and likely many distributed by Churchill or his people. With 200 boxes sent to Washington no doubt many remained in the US. 

I do now see a few examples of these and apparently he did smoke them:

https://www.raptisrarebooks.com/product/winston-churchills-half-smoked-cigar/

As far as general collectibility, say around 300 boxes made in the early 40s, a known story, a cigar that Churchill did smoke and officially acknowledged--a complete in good condition maybe a thousand dollars? These rags maybe $50.