What makes a glass bottle worth so much?

“There are also several unique features or characteristics that can significantly affect value such as pontil marks found on blown glass, whittle marks, type of molds, glass imperfections, slug plates, variations of lips or tops and the glasshouse location where the bottle was manufactured,” Polak wrote for Antique Trader.

How can I find out what a bottle is worth?

Note its size, color, markings, and condition. Look up the bottle type on the printable list. Check the bottle you have against the detailed description of the type. Note the value range for the bottle. Bottles in rare colors and great condition will fall at the higher end of the price range.

How does the condition of a bottle affect its value?

Since value is largely based on the bottle’s condition, this can be one of the biggest factors in determining where your bottle falls on the price range. If you overestimate your bottle’s condition, you are also overestimating its price. Stick to a general category if you can’t find your exact bottle on a price list.

What makes a glass bottle a fair grade?

Fair or average: This grade defines a bottle with “considerable wear.” The label will be missing or embossing damaged. Wear is very readily apparent. Poor or damaged: The presence of chips, cracks, major rubs, and/or severe stains overall.

How can you tell if a bottle is worth something?

Mint condition bottles — those with no damage, chips, discoloration or flaws of any kind — boast the highest values. Bottles in near mint or very good condition have slight wear but are close to perfect and thus worth almost as much as their mint-condition counterparts.

How is the value of an old glass bottle determined?

As with most antiques and collectibles, figuring out how much old bottles are worth relies greatly on the condition in which they are found. Polak suggests that there are six “variables” he uses when determining what kind of shape a bottle is in: Mint: This means there is no damage to the bottle whatsoever.

How can you tell if a glass bottle is damaged?

Wear is very readily apparent. Poor or damaged: The presence of chips, cracks, major rubs, and/or severe stains overall. It’s good, first off, to remember that the amount of damage a collector will tolerate when it comes to an old bottle goes hand and hand with how hard that example is to hunt down.

Is the bottle worth money at American bottle auctions?

American Bottle Auctions generally needs a bottle to be worth a minimum amount of money to make it financially worthwhile to handle. Because of this, we would not be interested in auctioning, or buying, these bottles. Move on to next question. 3. Is the bottle embossed (have raised lettering or graphics)?

Is it worth buying an un embossed bottle?

Un-embossed bottles are normally not worth much money. Because of this, we would not be interested in auctioning, or buying, these bottles, except in rare cases. However, we would be interested in colored ink wells without embossing. 4. Is the bottle clear, or aqua, in color? Most bottles are aqua, the natural color of glass.

How much is an old beer bottle on eBay worth?

The bottle going for the highest price on eBay is a dark amber colour – and is on sale for a whopping £900. Some of the bottles were even made by Huddersfield companies – this bottle from Slaithwaite is stamped Huddersfield Clubs Star Brewery Slaithwaite and is on sale for £8 – not bad for an old glass bottle!

Can a bottle of wine be considered worthless?

Even very rare and valuable bottles can be considered virtually worthless if there is severe enough damage. If the bottle is rare, and the damage is quite minor, it still may have considerable value (though much less than if it were in good condition). 6. Does the bottle have a pontil? A pontil is a circular area on the very bottom of a bottle.

What kind of bottles are the most collectible?

Clear antique bottles for ketchup, with double or triple-ring necks, are collectible, especially if they were made by Allen and Lewis. Antique bottles for mustard that were shaped like a barrel are highly prized. The same style container was used to sell snuff.

When does a bottle of wine become worthless?

How much is a red glass perfume bottle worth?

This unique perfume bottle is appraised at a value of between $100 and $200 as a collectible. It is not hallmarked but it is made of red glass which has been flaked with silver foil. The stopper was silver tested and found to be authentic and is engraved “PK. 4” indicating that it is a member of a limited edition series. 5.

Is the price of an antique bottle useful?

A price guide can be a helpful tool when you’re shopping for or identifying old glass bottles. Although price lists have their limitations, they can offer some fascinating general information about the value of your finds. You might just discover that the bottle you’re holding is a treasure. Was this page useful? Yes No Please help us improve.

Why are there price lists on antique bottles?

Typically, price lists include a range of values. This is because value really depends on several factors, including the condition, age, rarity, and uniqueness of the bottle. Be suspicious of any price list that gives exact values.

How can you tell how old a glass bottle is?

While not all old bottles are valuable, an older bottle is more likely to be worth more than a newer one. Pontil Mark on an Antique Blown Glass Vase 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.

Which is the best price guide for antique bottles?

Antique Trader Bottles Identification and Price Guide by Michael Polak is a large book, but it also comes in an electronic edition. You’ll find extensive information about bottle types and prices. Digger Odell Publications offers 18 antique bottle price guides.

What makes an old glass bottle so valuable?

Those key points are color, condition, and rarity. Perhaps because glass color is the most immediate thing collectors notice about an old bottle, they often proclaim that “color is king.” Rare colors do elevate the value of most any type of bottle, according to Polak.

What kind of bottles were made before 1900?

Get it in front of 160+ million buyers. A number of different types of bottles were manufactured before 1900, including those made for food, drinks, and household items. Most of these antique bottles were made by pouring melted glass into a mold, but a few were made by glassblowers.

What can you find in a glass bottle?

From Soda to milk, medicine, and even ink, it seems like everything used to come in a glass bottle. Whether you find them at garage sales, antique shops, or buried in the ground, collecting antique glass bottles can be a lot of fun (and quite fruitful, depending on the bottle).

What kind of water bottle is the most valuable?

Aqua is a very light, clear blue (like fresh water). In the world of bottle collecting, color is king. Blue, green, amber, puce (or a grayish purple) are desirable, as are many other colors and variations of colors. Clear, or aqua-colored, bottles are less valuable.

How can you tell the value of an antique glass bottle?

Color is one of the easiest features to notice about an antique glass bottle, and in many cases, it is one of the most important attributes when it comes to determining the value of your bottle, explains LoveToKnow.

Is there a price list for glass bottles?

What kind of bottles are the most valuable?

Some of the uses that collectors find the most intriguing, and potentially the most valuable, include bottles used to hold medicine, poison, barber products or old ink. Taking those six categories into account can help you assess whether or not your antique bottle may be valuable.