the 18-carat gold rectangular piece was a gift to lord uxbridge , whose stoic exchange with the duke of wellington after losing his leg to a cannonball has become etched in history .
in a famous example of the british stiff upper lip , wellington replied ` by god , sir , so you have ! ' auctioned : this gold trinket box , presented to lord uxbridge for his heroics in the battle of waterloo .
the top has a finely embossed coat of arms with a frame of rocaille shells and foliage around it and the base has another coat of arms with a similar border .