A huge collection of diaries, letters and even a pristine cigar belonging to Winston Churchill was up for auction in London Wednesday.

The sale, which is expected to raise around one million pounds, is being billed by Christie’s as part of the most important private Churchill collection in the world.

It features his engagement diary for 1939 to 1945 which records meetings with leaders including US President Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin of Russia and Britain’s King George VI. It could fetch up to 120,000 pounds.

A half-smoked cigar abandoned by former British prime minister Winston Churchill has sold for more than $7,000.

The cigar was tossed aside by Mr Churchill as he headed to an urgent meeting of his cabinet in 1941, the auction house Keys said.

The 10-centimetre stump was saved by a servant at 10 Downing Street and later given to a friend as a gift. A relative took possession of it after the man died.

Davidoff of Geneva has introduced a new brand of cigars called Winston Churchill.

Named after one of the world’s most notable cigar icons, the project was a collaboration between Churchill’s grandson Winston S. Churchill and Davidoff’s Henke Kelner.

The Winston Churchill is the only brand with full Cuban seed tobacco produced by Davidoff.