How can you tell if a glass bottle is vintage?

The embossed maker's mark or letters on the side of a bottle or on the base of a bottle will help to reveal a bottle's age. Marks or letters on collectible milk bottles and Coca Cola bottles are commonly indicators of age and origin.

How can you tell if a glass bottle is valuable?

The Age of the Bottle

While not all old bottles are valuable, an older bottle is more likely to be worth more than a newer one. Seams and pontil marks are two of the ways you can determine a bottle's age. The pontil mark is the mark at the bottom of the bottle where it was attached to the glass blower's pontil rod.

What kind of old glass bottles are worth money?

Colored glass is typically more valuable than clear glass; in fact, a colored glass bottle can easily be worth $1,000 or more than the same bottle featuring clear glass.

Do old glass bottles have seams?

YES - The bottle has embossing or visible vertical side mold seams somewhere on the body between the heel and the base of the finish or lip. A bottle may have mold seams but no embossing, but all embossed bottles were molded in some way and have mold seams even if they are not readily apparent.

What do the numbers on the bottom of bottles mean?

Easy Answer: The numbers on the bottom of plastic bottles let you know the type of plastic they're made of.

Antique Bottle Basics

How do you date old glass bottles?

A glass bottle's embossing effects often help to provide positive proof of the bottle's age. The embossing may be located on any part of the bottle. Multiple types of embossing effects may appear on a single bottle. You can often determine a bottle's intended use by viewing its embossing effects.

How do you date glass?

If you can identify the pattern and color of your glassware, you can also get a sense of its age. Manufacturers usually only created a pattern for a certain number of years. If you know a pattern was made in the 1920s through the 1940s, for example, then you know your glass item dates from this era.

What is a pontil mark on a bottle?

A pontil mark is a variable size and type of scar or roughage left on the base of a bottle by a pontil rod. A typical pontil rod (aka ponty, punty or punte) was a long (4-6 feet) rod which was securely attached to the base of the just blown hot bottle (Trowbridge 1870).

When did glass bottles get screw caps?

On 10th August 1889, Dan Rylands of Barnsley in the UK patented the screwcap. It was some time, however, before this advance in bottle and jar closures was used on wine bottles. Until 1913, bottles were sealed with a driven cork, requiring a corkscrew to open them, like wine bottles.

How do I identify my bottle manufacturer?

Find the Markings

The side of the bottle may be printed with the product or manufacturer's name, and this can be helpful in identifying your find. Also turn the bottle over. Many bottles have marks on the bottom, and these are important signatures of bottle manufacturers.

What are the most expensive vintage bottles?

Rare bottle blows past estimate

A 150-year-old blue Cassin's Grape Brandy Bitters bottle, so rare that for years many doubted its existence, has sold for a staggering $155,000.

How much is a 1923 Coca Cola bottle worth?

A: The 1923 Coca-Cola bottle, a.k.a. the Christmas bottle, was the first to renew its exclusive new design patent. It gained its nickname from its renewal date, which coincidentally fell on Dec. 25, 1923. As a 1900s model, it's worth about $2,300 – $2,500.

Are old whiskey bottles worth money?

Most collectible bottles are over 10 years old and value usually increases with the age of the whisky. Whisky over 30 years old is the most sought after as it is the rarest. Any whisky bottled at over 50 years old is highly desirable and a very limited number of distilleries have released whisky over 50 years old.

How old are glass bottle stoppers?

The earliest glass stoppers date back as early as 1,500 B.C., though they didn't come into wider use until the mid-19th century, mostly used for food containers. Stoppers can be simple and utilitarian, or decorative and ornate, but generally have the same three parts.

When did they stop using cork in bottle caps?

Bottle caps used to be made of fluted metal with a natural cork liner that formed a seal on a glass bottle. Cork was phased out as a sealant in the 1960s, in favor of—you guessed it—plastic.

What is the seal on a bottle called?

The crown cork (also known as a crown seal, crown cap or just a cap), the first form of bottle cap, was invented by William Painter in 1892 in Baltimore.

What does the L on the bottom of a glass mean?

(1888-to date) The “cursive L” trademark is frequently seen embossed on the bases of various tableware items, especially tumblers and other drinking glasses, barware, wine glasses and stemware for home use as well as commercial and institutional use.

What is the Murano glass mark?

The Pontil mark is a scar that was left behind when the glass master broke the Pontil rod of the finished blown Murano glasswork. The Pontil mark can be found on the bottom of a hand-blown artwork. Touch it with your finger and you can feel that the surface of the Pontil mark is not smooth.

How can you tell Murano glass?

What does Depression glass look like?

Depression glass, which was made during the great depression, usually came in bright colors, like yellow, amber, blue, green, or pink. It was always patterned and often had geometric shapes and designs cut into it. Due to low production costs, the glass should look and feel thin.

What does a seam in a bottle mean?

From about 1920 on, most wineglasses have been manufactured in a process where a two-piece bottle mold clamps around liquid glass. Air is then blown into the center so the end result is a hollow but formed glass bottle. That means that yes, bottles will have two seams that run from the top to the bottom of the bottle.

How do you date a liquor bottle?

Most bottle manufacturers molded the year into the glass at the bottom of the bottle in 2-digit format. You'll often find it in the lower right portion when looking at the bottom (some dates are much easier to distinguish than others). This will usually tell you–within a year or two–when the whiskey was bottled.

What are prohibition bottles worth?

Followers have reached out to participate in learning new history about the home and its bootlegging owner. The couple plans to leave the bottles they found empty or evaporated preserved in the home -- and sell the bottles they found full. The full bottles are estimated at a value of around $1,000 each, said Drummond.