# Where to start?



## rtgoff (Dec 1, 2008)

Hi folks, 
    I'm new here so I hope I'm doing this correctly.
   I have a question. Many years ago before we were married, my wife was living on the island of Bermuda.
 Back then it was still ok to dive the many shipwrecks so she did quite frequently. There's charted shipwrecks anywhere from 100 to 500 years old.
 We have a couple dozen bottles that she brought to the surface as well as a stone smoking pipe with the tapper.
 There's also some glass tubes (Ampulets??)  filled with opium or some other narcotic. (From a civil war ship).
 These were used to jab into the wound and be broken off during battlefield amputations.
   I can't find anything on the web about 300 year old stone pipes or shipwreck bottles.
    Where do I start?  I do have pictures and thought maybe a maritime museum would be interested  if not then a private collector.
 Ralph


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## capsoda (Dec 1, 2008)

Hey Ralph, Welcome to the forum. You are in the only place to start. Throw up a pic and ask away.

 Someone one this forum will generally be able to answer almost any question you have on bottles and many other connected topics too.


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## Bluegrass (Dec 1, 2008)

Hey Ralph, if you have any problems with uploading images, etc., just hit the help link at the top of the page. It tells you the accepted size your pics should be, etc.


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## rtgoff (Dec 1, 2008)

Here's a photo of some of them.
  I can take more.
 Ralph


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## rtgoff (Dec 1, 2008)

Here's another view, the small glass ampules are in the large shells.
    The stone pipe with the tapper intact is in front.
   The black bottle was carbon dated at the university in Bermuda around early 90's.
   It's  ancient.
 Ralph


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## Wilkie (Dec 1, 2008)

Those ampules in the shells are so cool.  Is that how they came out of the water?  It looks like they're encased in some kind of mortar or something?


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## tigue710 (Dec 1, 2008)

well you have a few nice ones in there... the ones with the marbles in the necks are called codd bottles, and hail mostly from the U.K..  Ones from the islands are pretty rare, others come from all over the English world, (New Zealand, Australia etc...).  I see two that are Amber or yellow, they could be very good bottles!  How about a pic of those two alone so the embossing can be read?


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## capsoda (Dec 1, 2008)

Yep, the two colored Codd's are good ones no matter what they say. Most codd's from Bermuda and the islands of the Caribbean are good bottles also. Also any bottles with that style of top that won't stand because the bottom is round or kind of pointed are good ones.

 Inks are always good and it looks like you have to ginger beers. (pottery drink bottles.


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## Wilkie (Dec 1, 2008)

> ORIGINAL: rtgoff
> 
> The black bottle was carbon dated at the university in Bermuda around early 90's.
> It's  ancient.
> Ralph


 Which one is "ancient" and what do you mean by "ancient"???


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## glass man (Dec 1, 2008)

THOSE AMPULES IN THE SHELL,LOOKS LIKE A CLAM TURED JUNKIE![8D] SO MANY QUESTIONS! WONDERFUL!YES ,PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTIONS ABOVE! AND ARE THESE ALL THE BOTTLES YOU HAVE? COURSE IT IS ENOUGH ,BUT MORE IS ALWAYS BETTER HERE! WAY TO GO! JAMIE


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## rtgoff (Dec 1, 2008)

OK I'll try to answer some questions.
   By ancient I mean the carbon dating result was 500 years old.
   Makes sense, as the pipe came from the same wreck and it's charted as a vessell that sank over 500 years ago.
    The ampules are in wax, so they can be easily removed if needed.
    They came from the Prince David that sank during WW1 ferrying medical supplies.
    They made a movie about it called "The Deep" and in the movie they recover some ampules. 
    We have the real ones from the real shipwreck.
     I personally believe the pipe is worth more because no matter how hard I look, I can't find a pipe that old anywhere in this country.


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## rtgoff (Dec 1, 2008)

Someone asked..............Two of my gingers


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## rtgoff (Dec 1, 2008)

Lets try this again.
 My gingers ............someone asked afor photos
 Ralph


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## rtgoff (Dec 1, 2008)

This is what I believe is the oldest bottle I have


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## rtgoff (Dec 1, 2008)

Marble bottle reads:   Codds patent #4  sole maker
 Dan Rylands barnsley
 Side reads"  Bermuda,    St George,   Albert Inclis

   Ralph


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## glass man (Dec 1, 2008)

THANK YOU! I ENJOYED THAT! MUST BE AMAZING TO BRING UP ITEMS LIKE THAT. THERE ARE OTHERS HERE THAT DIVE ALSO.


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## rtgoff (Dec 1, 2008)

My wife did the diving with her first husband, they were on Bermuda working for NASA at the tracking station.
  Here's the pipe.


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## capsoda (Dec 1, 2008)

Never seen a green ginger beer before. Great lables on them. The amber Codd's have got to be worth 100 bucks each at least. The company that made them was in England so they were fairly expencive to use and colored Codd's are not common. William Hudson used them for a while in Pensacola.

 Why do you call the white bowl a pipe? Asking because of the thing that goes in it. Looks like some type of mortar and pestle.


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## rtgoff (Dec 2, 2008)

The thing that goes in it is a tapper to tap down tobacco.
   The wooden stem has rotted away over the centuries but you can see where it was wrapped around the pipe and where it went into the pipe to draw smoke.


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## rtgoff (Dec 2, 2008)

Last photo of pipe.

 But..........back to my original question, where do I start to price these items so we can sell them?  We're getting old and poor.
  Due to a number of reasons we have decided to sell since the past 20 years these items have laid up un storage anyway.
 Ralph


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## bonesbda (Dec 2, 2008)

hey...i'd offer about 250 each...sell locally for about 300-350 last one i bought..
 what other bermuda bottles you got?


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## tigue710 (Dec 2, 2008)

Bonesbda I believe is offering you a good deal, but besides that the quicker you sell the less you will get.  You gonna have to research what you have a little more, and study up.  You do have some great bottles, but not a fortune there.  From what I can see probably around 1000 - 2000, if everything is in tip top shape.  

 Your ancient bottle was not carbon dated correctly, it is a common form from around the 1820's, give or take 10 years.  It is a very nice bottle, but not that old!  

 Its best to research the glass yourself, but it takes decades to truly understand what makes one bottle worth more then the other.  Some outside help from an expert will go along way.

 The Ampulets are not worth much, and the pipe also is probably not worth much.  A museum would take your items in donation and stick them away somewhere but would probably not buy anything you have, with the exception of the Bermuda bottles.  A private collector would probably offer you more though.  A lot of the bottles you have are everyday common bottles, that few people would be interested in at all, but there are a few gems there...


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## rtgoff (Dec 5, 2008)

Been busy last two days.
   Thanks to all who replied for their input. Seems like a bunch of decent, honest folks here.
  We'll probably just put the entire collection away until we get some decent offers on the whole collection.
   I might just put a price on the entire set and advertise it or wait another few years. Don't know.
    I do believe the pipe is worth something, it's so rare and unique and stone.
   As far as the ampulets go, there's none left down there , what could be found were raised and disposed of by the Bermudian authorities because they are filled with morphene. Diving is not allowed at all anymore and the movie "The Deep" made them famous.
  And..........we actually have a handfull of originals.
   I have three 'Bermuda" amber codds and six green "Bermuda" codds. One is short/stocky and has 1916 on the bottom.
  All of them are slighty different, having different names, some "Hamilton" some "St. George" etc.
   Only one or two is the same.
    I guess I'l lphotograph the entire codd collection.
 Ralph


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