Old Bottles
Also called glass bottles, dug bottles.
Typical period: Varies
The single most systematic dating problem in the whole field, because the seam tells you the manufacturing method and the method has a known chronology. Follow the seam up the bottle.
What you are looking at
Glass bottles in various colours, with seams, embossed lettering, and a base that may show a scar or a maker's mark.
How to date it
- Seam stops at the shoulder: free-blown or dip mould, generally pre-1860.
- Seam stops on the neck below the lip: applied or tooled finish, roughly 1860 to 1915.
- Seam runs all the way over the lip: fully automatic machine, 1905 onward and dominant after 1920.
- A rough pontil scar on the base indicates pre-1860 hand finishing.
- An Owens machine scar — an off-centre circular feathered mark on the base — indicates roughly 1905 to 1950.
- Embossed 'Federal law forbids sale or reuse of this bottle' dates 1935 to 1964 exactly.
Spotting a reproduction
- Reproduction bottles exist for the valuable categories — bitters, flasks, poisons — and usually have seams inconsistent with the claimed date.
- Artificially 'dug' patina is applied unevenly and sits on the surface rather than etching into it.
- Purple glass from sun exposure is genuine in manganese-decolourised glass, roughly 1880 to 1920; irradiated purple glass is a modern deep unnatural shade.
What it is worth
Most old bottles are worth very little — they were made in millions. Value concentrates in colour, embossing, rarity of the maker, and categories with active collector bases such as bitters, poisons and historical flasks.
Confused with
The seam. A seam over the lip on a bottle claimed as 1850s settles it immediately.
Questions about this
How do you date old bottles?
Seam stops at the shoulder: free-blown or dip mould, generally pre-1860. Seam stops on the neck below the lip: applied or tooled finish, roughly 1860 to 1915.
How do you spot a reproduction?
Reproduction bottles exist for the valuable categories — bitters, flasks, poisons — and usually have seams inconsistent with the claimed date.
Are old bottles valuable?
Most old bottles are worth very little — they were made in millions. Value concentrates in colour, embossing, rarity of the maker, and categories with active collector bases such as bitters, poisons and historical flasks.