# Bottle Identification Book/Price Guide Help.   Good Book?



## WildernessAU (Nov 13, 2018)

Hey All, 
New to the forum and collecting more or less. 
I do find the occasional bottle while prospecting and have begun to collect certain locales. 

I am looking for suggestions for the Best all around most inclusive bottle guide or book out there that doesn't cost an arm n a leg.    Is there such a thing?
A comprehensive price or rarity guide for all known bottles would be ideal.
I'm also more interested in Colorado specific bottles. 

I am open to any and all suggestions.
Thank Ya Much!
D


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## hemihampton (Nov 13, 2018)

I don't know of such a thing but would like to find one myself. Lots of Bottle books out there but all very limited with small % of known bottles unless it's for a specific bottle like Coca Cola or ACL Sodas or Bitters & even those are very limited with small % of known bottles, Except maybe Porters Coke book may be pretty complete. Good Luck. LEON.


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## CanadianBottles (Nov 13, 2018)

Hi WildernessAu and welcome to the forum!  I'm afraid there isn't such a thing, really.  You can find plenty of price guides out there but bottle prices are so hard to predict that the values stated are generally almost meaningless.  Ebay sold listings are really the only thing that can quickly give you a general idea of value and even those are not necessarily a very good guide.  Cataloging all known bottles would be a nearly impossible task, as there are millions upon millions out there.  If such a book did exist it would probably be the size of a house and several stories tall.  There are some good bottle guides out there for certain locales, but the value of these is more in seeing what's out there and getting a general idea of rarity than it is in using them as a price guide.


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## hemihampton (Nov 13, 2018)

Looks like we were both responding with pretty much the same thing at the same time. LEON.


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## WildernessAU (Nov 13, 2018)

Thanks for the thoughtful response guys.
I was afraid that this would be the case.   I am somewhat surprised however, that no one has created such an online catalog. 

I personally look for bottles that have curious or aesthetic appeal.  But there are plenty of bottles that are semi valuable that are not exactly aesthetically pleasing and I would like to be able to know and identify those.  Also, be able to keep an eye out for rarities.  I suppose this is where good old research comes into play...darn it..  was hoping that there was a good all around US guide out there.

Well at least I am here! Which is a good start!


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## Old Wiltshire (Nov 14, 2018)

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Not books I know but you will find these three sites useful and are worth bookmarking.
The first is the SHA site which is a good aid to identification and background information on a variety of bottle types and their manufacture.
The second is specifically for US soda and beer bottles while the third is mainly for Hutchinson Patent bottles.

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https://sha.org/bottle/index.htm

http://www.sodasandbeers.com/index.html

http://www.hutchbook.com/default.html

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​


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## saratogadriver (Nov 14, 2018)

Looks like someone back in the 80s did a book on colorado marked beverage bottles from around the turn of the century.   Found this one listed for a small fortune on abebooks.

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Bo...MIwLe065DU3gIVw0oNCh1PLQKMEAYYASABEgKxSvD_BwE

here's a link to the Colorado bottle collectors assn.   They have a great list of bottle reference books.    http://www.antiquebottlecollectorsofcolorado.com/index.html

Jim G


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## RCO (Nov 16, 2018)

I don't imagine most national books would have much about Colorado in them , your best bet would be to try and find a Colorado specific book if anything existed 

sometimes even local history books might have some relevant information in them too


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## American (Nov 21, 2018)

I would say ebay is good for telling you the market value of a bottle for only the week that it is listed.  You can sell identical bottles and never get the same price twice.  Ebay is still and excellent place to sell bottles because the buyer does not have to pay a premium.  I have been selling bottles on ebay for 15 years under the name american.pontil, and usually always have bottles listed.  (not always pontiled - that's just a name)


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## mtnmaxjax (Nov 21, 2018)

If I wanted to check out books before purchasing I'd use the local library.


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