Collectors Guide

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Bottle Collector's Guide : Appraising Antique Bottles

WaynesBottles.com receives many questions each day asking "what is my bottle worth", "how old is my bottle", "where is this bottle from", "what is this bottle", or "what is the history of this bottle". We try to answer as many questions as we can but it is difficult to keep up with all the mail. We are posting some useful information to help you determine the age, worth, and history of your bottle.

A good first step has already been taken and that is to browse the collections of antique bottle dealers on the internet. Some like to browse ebay. Antique bottle collectors are listed at the Federation of Historic Bottle Collectors website: www.fohbc.com or at Reggie Lynch's website: www.antiquebottles.com [on his links page]. Reggie's site also explains the basics of bottle construction, closures, bases, dating, classifying and condition. [He also offers appraisals]. Another good bottle basics site is Digger Odell's. Digger Odell also publishes bottle guides at: [www.bottlebooks.com/basics.htm]. Digger ODell's website has a search engine that searches questions and answers he has published.

Use the public library of the city where your bottle was manufactured to determine the period when your bottle was made and some history of the company. Once the bottle is dated you can use the city directories to determine the years that the company was in business in that location. Often the library can help flesh out the history of the company.

If you want to get into collecting I would strongly suggest subscribing to the Antique Bottle and Glass Collector magazine [www.glswrk-auction.com] and the Bottles & Extras magazine. Bottles & Extras comes with your membership in the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors. Next, check to see if there is a bottle club in your area. Clubs are listed at the Federation's website [www.fohbc.com].

Purchase a few good bottle guides [listed on my recommended reading page.] Remember that no guide is comprehensive and that prices can vary by region of the country where supply/demand factor in. Other factors are listed below as well as information on dating your bottle. We hope that you find this information useful and HAPPY COLLECTING!

THE 12 VALUE FACTORS THAT DETERMINE THE VALUE OF ANY BOTTLE:

DATING BOTTLES:

1. SUPPLY AND DEMAND: Whenever demand increases or outstrips the supply of a collectible, the price goes up.

2. AGE: The mold seam on older bottles, pre-1900 (non- machine made), stops before running over the top of the lip. However, just because a bottle is very old, that alone does not make it valuable. Lips of 19th Century bottles are pictured here: www.bottlebooks.com/basics.htm

3. RARITY: Rarity only matters when there is demand.

4. CONDITION: Original labels, wrappers and boxes increase value and may make even a common bottle increase in price. Original contents may or may not increase value, as they tend to hide the color and embossing. This page describes bottle conditions: www.antiquebottles.com/condition.html

5. COLOR: Color plays a major role in determining value in several important ways. First, there is a hierarchy of colors which appeal to bottle collectors. Rare and unusual colors command the highest prices. For more on color, see www.antiquebottles.com/color

6. AESTHETIC APPEAL: This value factor is totally subjective. Basically, if a bottle has this type of appeal it will have value. Fancy panels, labels with outstanding color or graphics, and crudity may all add to what collectors see as a bottle's esthetic appeal.

7. EMBOSSING AND DESIGN: Embossing adds more to the value when it identifies the product, the manufacturer, a patent or other date, the maker, proprietor, state, city, or other pertinent information.

8. CATEGORY: Values in each of the collectible categories can vary greatly according to the other factors listed here.

9. SIZE: Size is a factor in value. It is often less important than other factors, but it does influence price.

10. INDIVIDUALITY: Bottles with bubbles, crudely applied tops, and other flaws showing their hand made origin are generally more sought after than similar specimens without those characteristics.

11. HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE: Historical significance adds to the value of antique bottles.

12. LOCALE: A bottle's geographical area of origin can greatly affect its value. Bottles from certain areas of the country tend to be much less common than from some others. Bottles frequently bring their best price in the areas they were produced.

The process of manufacturing bottles has changed over the years. The older the bottle chances are the more it's worth. The different processes in manufacturing will leave different marks that can be helpful in dating a bottle.

1. Pontil Marks:

Open pontilled: usually date before 1860

Iron pontilled: usually date 1845-1870

Smooth: usually date 1870 or later

For more info on pontil marks see: www.antiquebottles.com/bottoms or www.bottlebooks.com/basics.htm

2. Mold Lines:

None: bottle may be free blown, in which case it has a very uneven shape and dates before 1860. Or the bottle may have a nice even shape, but was spun in the mold to smooth out the seams; a practice common around 1900-1920.

BIM: side seams run from base and end below the top of lip, which is the result of Blowing In Mold (BIM). Can usually tell that lip is crude and was applied by hand.

3PM: 3 piece mold. Bottom half (from base to shoulder) has no seams, then there is a seam near the shoulder that runs completely around the circumference of the bottle. From this shoulder seam are two side seams that run up the neck and end below the top of the lip. 3PM was primarily in use from 1840-70. Can usually tell that lip is crude and was applied by hand.

ABM: if the side seams run thru the top of the lip, then the bottle is ABM (made by an Automatic Bottle Machine). The first ABM bottles started appearing in 1905, and by 1920 most bottles were being made by this method.

For more information on this topic see: www.antiquebottles.com/dating.html

3. Color: With the exception of beers, whiskies, wines and bitters (products that contained alcohol), most disposable bottles produced before 1900 were aqua (very light greenish or bluish glass). Clear glass was more expensive because it required a better controlled process. After 1910 or so clear glass became the new standard. To determine the color, see www.antiquebottles.com/color

4. Crudeness: Pre 1900 bottles tend to appear more crude because of air bubbles and the thickness of the glass near the bottom of the bottle. For the most part, the manufacturing of bottles was considered one of the least expensive and most massed produced uses of glass. It wasn't until the introduction of the Automatic Bottle Machine that bottles became more uniform and consistent in their manufacture.

To determine the date by patent number [if noted on your bottle] see www.bottlebooks.com/patentdater.htm

Professional Appraisers are listed at www.Kovels.com site [follow link]. You can also sign up to browse their extensive library of information. Historic Glass House can do a written appraisal for a fee. Follow this link: www.antiquebottles-glass.com/appraisals/index.htm for their online form.