Oldest bottle note in world confirmed

The bottle was released into the North Sea in 1906, and found by a woman on a beach on the German island of Amrum last year.

Inside was a postcard asking that it be sent to the Marine Biological Association of the UK – and promising the sender a shilling if they returned the bottle.

The association in Plymouth said the bottle was one of some 1,000 released as part of marine research carried out by expert George Parker Bidder.

After 108 years, four months and 18 days, retired postal worker Marianne Winkler discovered the bottle in April last year during her holiday on Amrum, which is about 310 miles (500km) from the UK.

She sent it back to the UK and received an old English shilling (5p) in return.

Guinness World Records has confirmed that the message in a bottle is the world’s oldest.

Guy Baker, from the Marine Biological Association, said: “Bidder released a total of 1,020 bottles between 1904 and 1906 and he reported that his bottles were trawled up by the fishermen at the rate of 55 per cent per annum.

“Some bottles were never returned, assumed to be lost in the open ocean forever. The bottle discovered in Germany was from a set released on November 30, 1906.”

The previous record for a message in a bottle was 99 years and 43 days. It was found west of the Shetland Islands in July 2013.