Department store Selfridges is encouraging shoppers to buy their extremely expensive £1,000 ($1,500) Easter eggs in the hope they will gain value.

How? Because each of these exorbitantly priced eggs will contain a gold coin which the store considers to be of good investment value.

A Selfridges spokesman said: “According to the financial institution Swiss bank UBS, demand for gold will double this year compared to 2007”

The Blue Serpent Clock Egg is a jewelled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1887, for the then Czar of Russia, Alexander III, who presented the egg to his wife, the Czarina Maria Feodorovna. It now belongs to the Princess Grace of Monaco’s collection, currently owned by Prince Albert II.

The Serpent Clock Egg costed 2,160 rubles to the Czar. The serpent winds around the pedestal of the egg and serves as the clock’s hand. The head and tongue point to the hour. The time can be read on the upper eggshell, which has a rotating clock face. The egg is similar to the “Duchess of Marlborough Egg” (ca. 1902) which is interesting because Faberge had a rule of not repeating a design.

This beautiful Faberge creation, which has not left Monaco in over 30 years, was unveiled yesterday at the Consulate General of Monaco in New York City. The Egg will be traveling to Cleveland, Ohio, where it will be on display with six other Faberge wonders in the Artistic Luxury exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art through January 2009.

Peter Carl Faberge and his workshop made incredibly intricate Easter eggs for the Russian Imperial Court between 1885 and 1917.

These rare and unique creations had the cover of enameled gold and gem stones, which would open to reveal hidden wonders – sometimes golden yolk, sometimes a delicately sculpted figure, all nestled in many levels like a traditional Russian matryoshka doll.

As only fitting for Easter Eggs, each one contained a surprise!