# Amethyst the color of greed and deception



## Arob (Feb 1, 2008)

What do you say to a bottle dealer with irradiated glass bottles on his table? Do you scold him for being a dishonest tramp? or remark on what pretty purple colors his bottles are...?

 I wrote about the proliferation of 'sun colored amethyst' bottles in my last Dumpdiggers blog post - and in the course of researching the phenomenon I came across quite a few pieces on eBay and one slippery fellow who calls himself Digger Dave.What's the deal here? Does eBay not care that Dave is selling deception?

 What do you folks think of irradiated glass ?


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## deer4x4 (Feb 1, 2008)

i did not know what irradiated was but now i do i like your writing on it i dont like anything that doesnt look natural in color i have found many in a very light amythest colors but they were natural from sun i also found old door knobs in very light sun colored but i hate the purple i think they ruin the natural color of the bottle and i myself dont start any trouble with anyone i just would rather walk away from the table or skip the add unless it is a bottle that is a natural purple color just my veiw on thanks  godd question bob 

 p.s if you watch on ebay you will see one guy who post with a american flag on a desk in the back round i was always woundering if the bottle were painted or something


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## GuntherHess (Feb 1, 2008)

Some people like them , some people dont.  Its really a matter of taste. I dont mind lightly colored bottles but I dont like the very dark ones that look like there is no way they could have got that color from natural UV.
 This has been discussed quite a bit before.


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## earlyglass (Feb 1, 2008)

I can't stand the "purpling" of bottles, but I will say that I have traded with Digger Dave and he seems to be a very nice guy. He does explain the whole coloring process in each of his auctions, so I do not think he is being slippery or dishonest. The ones who attempt to call the color natural or original are doing a disservice to themselves and the hobby. A collector certainly needs to do his/her homework if collecting this color!

 Mike


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## bottlediger (Feb 1, 2008)

I see no problem doing this what so ever no matter how light or how dark purple the bottle was made. Well unless its an extremly rare bottle with only a few examples known then I feel it shouldnt be done to that perticular bottle. But if the seller can state that the bottle was not naturally purple and was later changed to purple and the buyer is cool with that, there is no problem what so ever. If the seller hides the fact that the bottles were changed to purple or states that they were orig. made that way, that then is a big no no. My thoughts  only. I personally do not like rad purple bottles but if others do that is their thing and more power to them. They just need all the facts on why that bottle is purple

 Digger ry


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## GuntherHess (Feb 1, 2008)

Yes, I have also dealt with Digger Dave and I havent had any problems with him.


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## Arob (Feb 1, 2008)

Yes I didnt mean to go so hard on Dave. He looks like a nice guy. And he doesn't seem like the type of guy that would have a gamme radiation machine in his basement... Do you think he's got a the gamma radiation machine? or does he know somebody? there can be no doubt that he's close to the source.
 I'm thinking that maybe he's straight up about the damage he does, and maybe his clients are all cool, but what about the people they sell to? and the people they sell to? will they be as informed?


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## appliedlips (Feb 1, 2008)

I say nice bottles where did you have them done[] Dave is not out to decieve anybody with his listings just make a buck on what was otherwise junk to toss back in the hole.THAT IS THE EBAY WAY!


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## GuntherHess (Feb 1, 2008)

> gamma radiation machine


 
 I dont think Digger Dave is fooling around with gamma rays[]


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## GuntherHess (Feb 2, 2008)

> look where it got him


 
 Hulkamania!!!


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## pupman (Feb 2, 2008)

Is digger Dave  an alien?


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## amblypygi (Feb 3, 2008)

> ORIGINAL:  lobeycat
> 
> ... So slippery fellow doesn't really fit in this case. ...


 
 Nope, it doesn't; Digger Dave is being perfectly honest about what he's offering, and I have no problem with that. Here's the real ebay cretin (one of many):

 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180208862948

 He hides bidder IDs now because I ruined too many sales for him by telling the bidders what was going on. I've become less of a crusader since then because irradiation is so common that if a bottle buyer doesn't know about it and buys a zapped bottle for a high price then I think they deserve to learn that lesson the hard way. Cold maybe, but hey.

 Sean


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## appliedlips (Feb 3, 2008)

Sean,

     How many in his pic of 5 bottles do you think have been irradiatied?


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## appliedlips (Feb 3, 2008)

I think he has his green card and is here on a guest worker program.[]




> ORIGINAL: pupman
> 
> Is digger Dave  an alien?


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## amblypygi (Feb 3, 2008)

> ORIGINAL:  appliedlips
> 
> Sean,
> 
> How many in his pic of 5 bottles do you think have been irradiatied?


 
 I think he irradiates almost everything that will change, the one in the center is definitely irradiated and the "topaz" one to the right as well. The one on the left: probably, but I only say that because I know the guy is a scumbag (IMHO).

 Sean


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## appliedlips (Feb 3, 2008)

I ask because alot of folks don't realize that blue one is probably nuked too.Aqua can and will turn cornflower blue,alot of "funky blue" hutches and squats have been being sold by another character on ebay of late.That seller lists his purples upfront and honest but doesn't mention the blues.I can assure you many of them are irradiated.I would say you are right ,he tries to turn them all.


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## druggistnut (Feb 6, 2008)

I know Digger Dave Beeler from when he lived here in Michigan. He was attending a Christian College (he is an ordained minister now) and digging the BeJesus out of Michigan. The guy can really dig.
 A buddy of mine and I were watching Dave's auctions on eBay for several months. I logged ALL of his sales. He was consistently clearing 3K a month on irridated bottles alone. Add to that all the high end stuff he was constantly digging and selling and 'ole Dave was raking it in. That was back when the purple was more of a novelty, though.
 Dave and many others who sell the purple get it done at meat packing plants. They drive a truck load of bottles in to a bay, the machine moves over the truck, just as if there was a load of incoming meat, and voila, purple, blue and other colors. That irridation changes the color of a lot of bottles.
 Dave has always been straight-forward in his sales. Ask me about his privy digging exploits, though.  LOL
 Bill


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## appliedlips (Feb 6, 2008)

I'm asking


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## glass man (Feb 10, 2008)

I have a bid on a bottle now that looked a bit like it had been irradated and asked the seller about this .HE got pretty defensive about it. Im winning the bottle so far ,but am torn ,because I don't like the phony look of "nuked" bottles.THE more I look at the bottle ,the more the color looks dark blue/green. thats what I am telling myself any way! HOWEVER I have seen other bottles this person has to sell and many of them have defintly been "NUKED".


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## Arob (Feb 14, 2008)

Arob here. 
 Well this thread is just full of 'reveals'
 1) Digger Dave's last name is Beeler and he's a nice guy... more - he's an ordained minister (a professional nice guy) and a very proliffic digger.
 2) Irradiation machines at the abatour or butchery - wow so they drive a whole truck into a meat packing plant and use the irradiation machines? ... huh. That's interesting.
 I wonder how long the pieces are under the particle beam... it must for 30 minutes or more. I cannot believe that its just a touch. I read here 
 http://www.insulators.com/pictures/?op=list&folder=19
 that some guys leave insulators in thier gamma radiation machines all winter...

 3) The colors ??
Irradiated Glass, the Amethyst Color of Greed
 I report that 'When exposed to the radioactive isotopes Cobalt-60 and Cesium-137, most manganese glass will turn amethyst, while glass made with selenium will become either straw, wheat, or honey colored.'

 I love that picture of the different colored Coke bottles - I wish I had that one when I was writing the blog.


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## appliedlips (Feb 14, 2008)

Thank you for your great service..It is in my opinion that neither the Double Safety or the the gin in your photo are NOT irradiated.The Double Safety's are full of manganese and purple up like a giant grape when nuked.May be sun colored,maybe a box but not irradiated.The gin looks sun colored.What makes Mr.Anthony an expert?I find most of his results unbelievable.Do you dig?Been finding anything?


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## Arob (Feb 14, 2008)

The double safety sealer jar was pictured on another site complaining about irradiated glass - maybe I should have read that article farther before I stole thier picture, as they might have mentioned that it was bonafide sun coloured amethyst.... but thats the problem isn't it? It gets so people can't tell anymore and any real sun coloured bottle is suspect. The hawaii gin - you're right as rain there, its sun coloured o naturale but it makes a great pic and shows the difference nicely.

 I was asked by a reporter to do a story for the Toronto Star newspaper - a ebay buyer beware piece. They basically told me that i would get some money if they used it. But because I don't OWN any pictures, I can't really oblige. The copyright laws are pretty loose on the net , but not in print under a newspaper masthead.

 Finally yes I dig, with chums, but I live in canada and so I can only dig in the spring summer and fall. Dumpdiggers has dozens of digging adventure stories ; indeed that was its original conception. My fav is Urban Gulch.

 In the winter time I like to dream and write about tropical beaches....


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## GuntherHess (Feb 14, 2008)

Sorry but it all seems a bit Don Quixotesque to me.
 Maybe if I collected insulators I would give a darn.
 Just my honest opinion.


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## appliedlips (Feb 14, 2008)

I think the whole topic is very easy to sum up.Learn about old bottles before you start buying.I have never seen an old bottle,blown in a purple glass similar to irradiated pieces.If it is too good to be true it probably is.If you like making cheap junkers purple,do it and if you like buying them go ahead and do that.There is no deciept in making something that never existed out of something worthless.Doug


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## GuntherHess (Feb 14, 2008)

well said


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## JGUIS (Feb 14, 2008)

> ORIGINAL: Arob
> 
> 
> Arob here.
> ...


 Yes, it's just a touch.  At it's current cost, the price to put something into nuclear storage all winter would run roughly the cost of buying Rhode Island.  And I would probably think that whoever said that would rightly have to be completely full of doodoo.  BTW, does Wal Mart still have the "My First Nuclear Reactor" playsets on sale?  I'm pretty sure that no digger has their own Cobalt-60 in thier basement.  BTW, greed comes in alot more colors than amethyst, and so does irradiated glass.  Sun colored sticks with purple, as do purpler boxes, but radiation can do all kinds of crazy stuff, some permanent, some not.  I wouldn't put off the article because of pics, I'd put it off because you haven't done any research.  I could care less if people do it or not, with all the info already out there, if you get taken on an irradiated piece, you probably deserve it.  There are alot more ripoffs going on on ebay than irradiated glass.  I just think that before I publicly ranted about someone, especially by name, I'd get my facts straight.  Just my 2 cents.


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## capsoda (Feb 14, 2008)

What, You guys don't have Cobalt-60 in your basement????

 The Double Safety looks a little dark to be natural. I have seen alot of SCA glass and I have never seen any that dark. Most is fairley pale. Depending on the source it only takes about 10 to 15 seconds to really purple up a jar. We have been bitching and griping about IR glass for years and it hasn't made much of a difference. Most folks buy it because they like it. If you think back the first really purple glass came from a Canadian seller who was bombing Queen fruit jars but the dozens and selling them on ebay. Doesn't bother me cause I know the differance.

 I can also see why it really bothers the insulator folks because they are very annal. *(JUSS JOKING, LOOSEN UP)* It is because there are rare amythest insulators ot there and they are a deep purple just like the IR purple. Othe than a few really rare perfumes I can't think of any deep purple bottles and jars.


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## GuntherHess (Feb 14, 2008)

Seriously ,  If you want to do the bottle collecting community a great service, write an article on naval deck sweeper bottles. I would support that 100%.[]


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## kungfufighter (Feb 14, 2008)

Are you insinuating that the Naval Boarding Weapons are "not real?!"  HOW DARE YOU!!!!!!!  My two cents - Digger Dave is doing the right thing in describing his irradiated bottles properly - I simply wonder about the next owner....


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## JGUIS (Feb 14, 2008)

> ORIGINAL: capsoda
> 
> What, You guys don't have Cobalt-60 in your basement????
> 
> ...


 That's what the NIA people are freaking out about now.  They did so much testing with radiation, and heat application, and figuring out how to scientifically identify irradiated glass, they forgot about one thing.  Finding the difference between some of the SCA/"real purples".    Didn't the insulator guys start irradiating in the first place?


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## capsoda (Feb 15, 2008)

> Seriously , If you want to do the bottle collecting community a great service, write an article on naval deck sweeper bottles. I would support that 100%.


 
 HERE!!! HERE!!!


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## glass man (Feb 15, 2008)

I asked DIGGER DAVE a while back how he purpled his bottles and he was forth right about it. I don't have the exact info. he gave me now ,but he said he used a box with a certain light and he also nuked them someway. HE seemed like a nice person and I don't think he beleives he is doing wrong. He has a lot of stuff for sale  now.[2/14/08] I notice a lot of his bottles have something wrong with them:a chip here ,a chip there etc., but he does tell about it. Some of his prices seem high to me,but of course that is something that is usually subjective. I think I will let him know how a lot of people feel about his irradating bottles.


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