# What’s your favorite beer bottle surface find?



## woods_walker

It doesn’t have to be valuable or rare it could even have damage Im just curious to see what you guys have found for beer bottles laying on the surface. No dug bottles, surface finds only! 

Here’s my favorite. Found it on the surface last fall with maybe 10 or so other aqua beers mainly from Detroit, MI all were shattered into pieces and somehow this one survived... 





Thanks to those who choose to share a photo and I hope everybody has a great weekend! Good luck in 2020!


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## hemihampton

I don't think to many people are fortunate enough to find intact PrePro (pre 1919) beer bottles on the surface. I know I don't. I find mine Buried. Here's one of my Favorite Buried Beer Bottle. If it's OK to cheat a little? LEON.


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## hemihampton

hmm, I did find a Banner just like that on the surface in downtown Flint after the Flint Bottle show about 3 years ago, It was damaged so I left it & didn't get a Pic. LEON.


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## woods_walker

hemihampton said:


> hmm, I did find a Banner just like that on the surface in downtown Flint after the Flint Bottle show about 3 years ago, It was damaged so I left it & didn't get a Pic. LEON.



Nice bottle  I guess dug bottles are ok to. Would like to see a few more pics posted so that’s fine! It’s funny you shared a kling bottle Leon there was actually a much newer kling busted up and laying next to the banner. It simply had kling embossed on the shoulder nice aqua pre pro beer I would love to find. 


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## RCO

I've literally found 1000's of modern beer bottles lying on the surface here , before cans became more popular , like literally every road and park here would be full of them , I used to go for a bike ride along the road I live on and fill a bag with them ( there is a 10 cent deposit on them here so it was a way to make a little money and clean up the road ) , now if you did that you'd only find cans and maybe like 1 or 2 glass bottles 

I find beer bottles from the 60's/ 70's and 80's all the time , they used to use stubby bottles and green glass bottles here  , all had paper labels so all that's left now is the bottle 

haven't really found anything old on the surface ( too many plants and tree growth here )  , if your talking like pre 1920's era , sometimes find older ones when swimming though


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

I have a couple. The oldest being an old Jacob Ruppert from ny. Alot of history also.



  I have an Ebling fron ny. I like the embossing. 



 I have an old F&M Schaefer ny 

 a David mayer of ny 12 1/2 oz

 last is a hudson county consumers Br'g co. From west hoboken it is no longer called west hoboken it is union city. Also 13 oz. Weird amount.


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## woods_walker

RCO said:


> I've literally found 1000's of modern beer bottles lying on the surface here , before cans became more popular , like literally every road and park here would be full of them , I used to go for a bike ride along the road I live on and fill a bag with them ( there is a 10 cent deposit on them here so it was a way to make a little money and clean up the road ) , now if you did that you'd only find cans and maybe like 1 or 2 glass bottles
> 
> I find beer bottles from the 60's/ 70's and 80's all the time , they used to use stubby bottles and green glass bottles here , all had paper labels so all that's left now is the bottle
> 
> haven't really found anything old on the surface ( too many plants and tree growth here ) , if your talking like pre 1920's era , sometimes find older ones when swimming though



Show off the ones you found swimming then would love to see them! 


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## woods_walker

ROBBYBOBBY64 said:


> I have a couple. The oldest being an old Jacob Ruppert from ny. Alot of history also.View attachment 203512View attachment 203513 I have an Ebling fron ny. I like the embossing. View attachment 203514View attachment 203515 I have an old F&M Schaefer ny View attachment 203516 a David mayer of ny 12 1/2 ozView attachment 203517 last is a hudson county consumers Br'g co. From west hoboken it is no longer called west hoboken it is union city. Also 13 oz. Weird amount.View attachment 203518View attachment 203519



Nice ones! That 13oz is pretty cool I don’t think that’s a common size but I could be wrong  


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

Thanks. All are surface finds. 1910-1950's i believe. None worth much $.


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## RCO

moltke_woods said:


> Show off the ones you found swimming then would love to see them!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk




I don't really have pictures of the modern ones but being Canada , you can imagine beer brands like - Molson Canadian , Labatt's ,  are pretty common here. if I had even saved just 1 example of each , would literally have 1000's of beer bottles in the garage going back to the early 90's 

is also US brands like Coors , Bud light , Miller etc  


the ones I found swimming weren't rare , mostly common , some were light blue 40's or 50's era US bottles


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## CanadianBottles

I don't think I've ever found a beer bottle of any interest on the surface.  Like RCO said, there are thousands upon thousands of modern or post-1940 beer bottles around here, but it seems like Canada isn't really the place to find interesting embossed beers.  By the 1920s the breweries here were almost exclusively using unembossed beers and even before that unembossed seems to have been the norm.  Canada does have some interesting embossed beers but nowhere near as many as the States has, and the ones we have here don't tend to show up nearly as often as their US counterparts.


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## hemihampton

ROBBYBOBBY64 said:


> Thanks. All are surface finds. 1910-1950's i believe. None worth much $.



Yours most likely are prepro, pre 1919. possibly prohibition but unlikely. After Prohibition starting in early 1930's it seems most if not all beer bottles were not embossed but had a paper label. I find these all the time but then it's usually just a no name slick with paper label missing. LEON.


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## hemihampton

It's hard to believe but I once found on the surface what seemed to be a Civil War era 1860's dump that had broken Pontiled Barrell Bitter Bottles on the surface & Civil War water Canteen ect, ect.. LEON.


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## RCO

CanadianBottles said:


> I don't think I've ever found a beer bottle of any interest on the surface.  Like RCO said, there are thousands upon thousands of modern or post-1940 beer bottles around here, but it seems like Canada isn't really the place to find interesting embossed beers.  By the 1920s the breweries here were almost exclusively using unembossed beers and even before that unembossed seems to have been the norm.  Canada does have some interesting embossed beers but nowhere near as many as the States has, and the ones we have here don't tend to show up nearly as often as their US counterparts.




there are some embossed beers from Canada but mostly would be pre 1920's and the embossing is most likely to only be " brewery name and city " , don't think I've seen many with fancy art deco type designs or logo's 

is definitely embossed beers from Ontario , I've seen several from southern Ontario , is a couple from Northern Ontario ( Sudbury and North Bay ) 

its odd the one from North Bay is called " the new Ontario brewery " and someone decided to revive the name and is a micro brewery in that city with the same name 

had one of there bottles once but traded it years ago , its a very plain bottle , brewery name and city embossed on it , from ww 1 era so 1914 ? I think


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## RCO

note I've never found one on the surface , the odd's of finding a bottle here that's from the 1910 era on the surface would be extremely low , only places would be lots where older sites were dug up or dumps that were accidently uncovered but so many trees and plants here anything that old is long since overgrown 

I have found a couple modern new Ontario brewing cans though , someone brought back the name a couple years ago  and brewing beer in north bay with the old name


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## hemihampton

I was in a old Ghost Town in Upper Peninsula of Michigan about 6 years ago & there was a bunch of old Pre Pro Bosch Beer laying on the surface, all around the place in various spots but all broken. I assume some body already grabbed any good unbroken ones many years ago before I got there. LEON.


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## RCO

made a surface find today , happened to be in town , near a plaza saw a clear bottle in some grass where the snow melted . it was one of those modern " sleeman " beer bottles from Guelph Ontario . for some reason there my favorite modern beer bottle to find , they have an eat look to them , embossing on front and such , I find the odd one now and then but not as common as they used to be as more people drink from cans now


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## digger dun

I have found so very many keeper bottles right on the surface over the years. This amber blob top is probably my favorite. Fred Barth of Greenport LI. This one had been on my list for awhile. I was out walking in my home town of Shelter Island a few years ago, near to the Quaker Cemetery with some friends and our then little babies strapped to our backs when I felt the call from the forest floor just off the path. Found it laying in the leaf litter, bight and shiny as the day it was made.


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## digger dun

This big Coney Island quart blob was another surface score. Was out kayaking the industrial creeks of South Brooklyn a few years back, spotted it on the shore...


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## digger dun

Found this odd ball quart blob laying in a footing ditch on a construction site. That was a good day.


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## digger dun

Spotted this Fred Barth hutch in the leaf litter as well while out strolling with the fam.


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## digger dun

Spotted this big stoney in a footing ditch of a construction site too, so caked in frozen mud it was nearly unrecognizable...


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## E

Two notable "surface" beer finds in my career, the "Petersen" porter was exposed on sandbar after a flood 30 years ago (won a race with my brother to claim it), the "Mason & Burns" top was protruding from mud on bank of the Chickahominy River.  Have found numerous crown top on surface and a few blobs/loops.  Did also find alot of good surface stuff when I was kid on banks of Ohio River, good times...


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## Brewster113

Sorry to say but I did not find this beer, my wife did. She was out for a walk in our woods and just laying on the ground was this blob beer. It is Silver Creek Brewery Guelph, this is a precursor to the Sleeman Brewery from Guelph. Cleaned up very nice and had the wire bale in tact and working.


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## Flasks

I noticed a "hint" of blue along a slope I was walking and looking for bottles. Thinking it was just a shard of some common broken blue bottle, such as milk of magnesia, etc. I walked over to it and noticed the blue protrusion was round. At that point I pulled out this beer realizing I had never found a cobalt beer, let alone one that only needed gentle cleaning.


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## sandchip

Hellacious finds, everybody.  About all I have to offer is this pontiled black glass dip mold blown beer or porter that I found many years ago laying on the bottom of a shallow creek.


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## DustinSBaker




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## Huntindog

Surface find while kayaking in Victoria.
It says A. Phillips Victoria VI             

Alexander Phillips was in business  from 1858 to 1876...


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## slugplate

Schaefer "Barrel" Blob Top


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## Brewster113

digger dun said:


> Spotted this big stoney in a footing ditch of a construction site too, so caked in frozen mud it was nearly unrecognizable...


Love these crude blob beers.
Bruce


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## Tony Kendzior

This was a surface find some 50 years ago, in an area that had been phosphate mined in the late 1800s in north central Florida. This bottle, along with whiskey bottles, early Cokes, Chero Colas, medicine bottles of every description just lying around. There's no embossing on it so I'm not sure it is a beer, but I've always thought of it that way because of it's shape. It's a 3 part mold and the pontil area is 1 inch deep. It's heavy, about 9 inches tall and 2.5 inches in diameter. Guesses anyone?


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## GLASSHOPPER55

Not a beer, but a soda/mineral water, but I found this about 10 years ago  back behind where an old house burnt down just laying on top of the ground . I could not believe it. I still haven't been able to identify where the bottler was in town, it is a rare local. I returned and dug about a half-dozen other bottles out of the ground among a lot of broken shards and bricks.


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## Stephengriffin93

Found this top ground in one of my dumps, 1890s blob top beer


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## Stephengriffin93

Tony Kendzior said:


> This was a surface find some 50 years ago, in an area that had been phosphate mined in the late 1800s in north central Florida. This bottle, along with whiskey bottles, early Cokes, Chero Colas, medicine bottles of every description just lying around. There's no embossing on it so I'm not sure it is a beer, but I've always thought of it that way because of it's shape. It's a 3 part mold and the pontil area is 1 inch deep. It's heavy, about 9 inches tall and 2.5 inches in diameter. Guesses anyone?View attachment 203791View attachment 203792


Very early 1850s-1860s


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## hemihampton

If Construction site finds qualify here I Literally have a 100 of those. many that have read my post over the years know that. I did find this Hutch (and others elsewhere) under a small crawlspace under the rear of a house after house was torn down. This area was untouched by the demolition. LEON.


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## sandchip

E said:


> Two notable "surface" beer finds in my career, the "Petersen" porter was exposed on sandbar after a flood 30 years ago (won a race with my brother to claim it), the "Mason & Burns" top was protruding from mud on bank of the Chickahominy River.  Have found numerous crown top on surface and a few blobs/loops.  Did also find alot of good surface stuff when I was kid on banks of Ohio River, good times...



That Petersen is nothing short of hellacious.  Great looking bottle.  I'd love to see more pictures of that baby.


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## hemihampton

Found this super Rare Herzbergs Bitters laying in the dirt after they tore a house down. LEON.


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## sandchip

Sweet!


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## Geolog_Digger

test


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## Geolog_Digger

Helloooo everyone,
I found this blob top beer bottle from Halifax (N.S) on a surface but in a construction site where i had worked.
I love it even if i have no idea about it value.


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## woods_walker

Geolog_Digger said:


> Helloooo everyone,
> I found this blob top beer bottle from Halifax (N.S) on a surface but in a construction site where i had worked.
> I love it even if i have no idea about it value.View attachment 203867



Sweet bottle, Looks brand new! One of these days I’ll find a blob and it’s gonna be epic. Lol 


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## BF109

Eyeballed this Oklahoma Territory beer bottle while metal detecting a demolition site. It was a good day. 
MOSS BREWING CO.
OKLAHOMA CITY
O.T.


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## BroGeo

Technically, I found this one on the surface after construction turned it up out of the sands on Tybee Island, GA many years ago.

BroGeo


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## hemihampton

Found these 200 Bottles on surface in one spot. All dated around



 1910-1920's. LEON.


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## CanadianBottles

Huntindog said:


> Surface find while kayaking in Victoria.
> It says A. Phillips Victoria VI
> 
> Alexander Phillips was in business  from 1858 to 1876...


Wow, that's an amazing find!  Those sure don't show up too often, especially not on the surface.  One of the earliest if not the earliest BC bottle, there sure aren't many bottles marked with V.I. instead of B.C.


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## CanadianBottles

Geolog_Digger said:


> Helloooo everyone,
> I found this blob top beer bottle from Halifax (N.S) on a surface but in a construction site where i had worked.
> I love it even if i have no idea about it value.View attachment 203867


Wow that's a beauty!  No idea on rarity or value but I'm sure it's a good find.  I don't remember ever having seen a maritime blob beer before.


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## Geolog_Digger

moltke_woods said:


> Sweet bottle, Looks brand new! One of these days I’ll find a blob and it’s gonna be epic. Lol
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thanks,


CanadianBottles said:


> Wow that's a beauty!  No idea on rarity or value but I'm sure it's a good find.  I don't remember ever having seen a maritime blob beer before.



Thank you guys
With your positive comments I start loving it even more.. lolll


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## hemihampton

Not a Beer Bottle but I've found many Hutches & Beer Bottles on surface at Construction sites. My Favorite probably this all white looking Hutch at the Bottom of this Construction hole. Under the white was like black smoke on it from being burnt or near fire. under the white & black ends up being a nice looking Cobalt Blue Hutch. LEON.


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## woods_walker

hemihampton said:


> Not a Beer Bottle but I've found many Hutches & Beer Bottles on surface at Construction sites. My Favorite probably this all white looking Hutch at the Bottom of this Construction hole. Under the white was like black smoke on it from being burnt or near fire. under the white & black ends up being a nice looking Cobalt Blue Hutch. LEON.View attachment 203922View attachment 203923View attachment 203924View attachment 203925



Awesome color to that hutch what a find. 


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## minnetonka diver

moltke_woods said:


> It doesn’t have to be valuable or rare it could even have damage Im just curious to see what you guys have found for beer bottles laying on the surface. No dug bottles, surface finds only!
> 
> Here’s my favorite. Found it on the surface last fall with maybe 10 or so other aqua beers mainly from Detroit, MI all were shattered into pieces and somehow this one survived...
> View attachment 203479
> 
> Thanks to those who choose to share a photo and I hope everybody has a great weekend! Good luck in 2020!


Here is my blog top 


moltke_woods said:


> It doesn’t have to be valuable or rare it could even have damage Im just curious to see what you guys have found for beer bottles laying on the surface. No dug bottles, surface finds only!
> 
> Here’s my favorite. Found it on the surface last fall with maybe 10 or so other aqua beers mainly from Detroit, MI all were shattered into pieces and somehow this one survived...
> View attachment 203479
> 
> Thanks to those who choose to share a photo and I hope everybody has a great weekend! Good luck in 2020!


Here is my blob top miller... Ashland, wi.
Yes I found it on the surface in 55 ft. Of water on the bottom of the lake superior,  Ashland wi.


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## Patagoniandigger

I have many bottles found on surface. Most fairly common.

I found two of this in different places.



About 20's

This few days ago 



And this is my favorite 


Dates 1900-1908


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## woods_walker

Patagoniandigger said:


> I have many bottles found on surface. Most fairly common.
> 
> I found two of this in different places.View attachment 204077
> About 20's
> 
> This few days ago View attachment 204078
> 
> And this is my favorite View attachment 204079
> Dates 1900-1908



Beautiful bottles, thanks for sharing! 


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## Patagoniandigger

moltke_woods said:


> Beautiful bottles, thanks for sharing!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I guess you didn't expect Argentine bottles over here. Thanks


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## woods_walker

Patagoniandigger said:


> I guess you didn't expect Argentine bottles over here. Thanks



Pretty neat to see what everyone has, I love all beer bottles 


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## RoyalRuby

I don't see much talk of the "Packie" or "one way" bottles, these were used heavily during the WWII time period and mostly sent overseas, though they were still used into the late 40's. While being under what feels like house arrest with the pandemic in full swing, I decided to check an area that I knew of many years ago but never checked out only about a mile down the road from where I live, it changed a bit from back then when a parking area had been put in for a hike bike trail at the location, while moving the earth around for the parking lot they pushed what looks like hundreds or thousands of bottles over the hillside, first time finds for me were about eight amber colored Packies and a few far more common bottles, I went back yesterday and found two more amber and one Anchorglass green glass Packie, these seam to be much harder to come by, at least around me, here's the three I found yesterday.


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## Patagoniandigger

RoyalRuby said:


> I don't see much talk of the "Packie" or "one way" bottles, these were used heavily during the WWII time period and mostly sent overseas, though they were still used into the late 40's. While being under what feels like house arrest with the pandemic in full swing, I decided to check an area that I knew of many years ago but never checked out only about a mile down the road from where I live, it changed a bit from back then when a parking area had been put in for a hike bike trail at the location, while moving the earth around for the parking lot they pushed what looks like hundreds or thousands of bottles over the hillside, first time finds for me were about eight amber colored Packies and a few far more common bottles, I went back yesterday and found two more amber and one Anchorglass View attachment 204106green glass Packie, these seam to be much harder to come by, at least around me, here's the three I found yesterday.


There are clear amber or yellow from that era too in other country(s).  Considering the bottles you have in same shape and colors there might to be similar in USA. It's a rare color to me but I guess if you look for it well you'll find some staff.Al


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## hemihampton

Forgot I found this Pre Pro Falstaff on the surface. LEON.


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## hemihampton

Silver Fox & Pfeiffers.  





LEON.


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## hemihampton

MORE.


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## hemihampton

MORE.


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## hemihampton

MORE.


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## RoyalRuby

Patagoniandigger said:


> There are clear amber or yellow from that era too in other country(s).  Considering the bottles you have in same shape and colors there might to be similar in USA. It's a rare color to me but I guess if you look for it well you'll find some staff.Al


Yes, I had found this image on line showing the different colors of glass used for this style bottle.


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## Patagoniandigger

hemihampton said:


> MORE.View attachment 204154View attachment 204155View attachment 204156View attachment 204157View attachment 204158View attachment 204159View attachment 204160View attachment 204161View attachment 204162


It's all killer through


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## Patagoniandigger

RoyalRuby said:


> Yes, I had found this image on line showing the different colors of glass used for this style bottle.View attachment 204169


This is more than I supposed.


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## Ye Olde Prospector

Surface finds, here is my favorite cobalt bottle. Found this one in 2005 here in Maine behind a stone wall along an old county road. Looks like a beer. Bottom embossed " A.B.G.M. Co/I/ BELLEVILLE/ ILL " believe the company embossed their bottles this way between  1899-1905. Must have been high quality glass, no stains after 100 years lying out in the weather. Second photo shows other bottles from the surrounding leaves.


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## woods_walker

Really like that cobalt beer! 


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## Ye Olde Prospector

Only cobalt beer I have dug here in Maine. Makes a nice window bottle.

Cliff


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## Dewfus

woods_walker said:


> It doesn’t have to be valuable or rare it could even have damage Im just curious to see what you guys have found for beer bottles laying on the surface. No dug bottles, surface finds only!
> 
> Here’s my favorite. Found it on the surface last fall with maybe 10 or so other aqua beers mainly from Detroit, MI all were shattered into pieces and somehow this one survived...
> View attachment 203479
> 
> Thanks to those who choose to share a photo and I hope everybody has a great weekend! Good luck in 2020!









woods_walker said:


> It doesn’t have to be valuable or rare it could even have damage Im just curious to see what you guys have found for beer bottles laying on the surface. No dug bottles, surface finds only!
> 
> Here’s my favorite. Found it on the surface last fall with maybe 10 or so other aqua beers mainly from Detroit, MI all were shattered into pieces and somehow this one survived...
> View attachment 203479
> 
> Thanks to those who choose to share a photo and I hope everybody has a great weekend! Good luck in 2020!


1890s Walter raupfert brewing company columbia city indiana found it on the bottom of a hill at my sister in laws


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## Nickneff

woods_walker said:


> It doesn’t have to be valuable or rare it could even have damage Im just curious to see what you guys have found for beer bottles laying on the surface. No dug bottles, surface finds only!
> 
> Here’s my favorite. Found it on the surface last fall with maybe 10 or so other aqua beers mainly from Detroit, MI all were shattered into pieces and somehow this one survived...
> View attachment 203479
> 
> Thanks to those who choose to share a photo and I hope everybody has a great weekend! Good luck in 2020!


I love any old bottle with strong embossed in the glass makes the bottom attractive to me


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## woods_walker

Ye Olde Prospector said:


> Only cobalt beer I have dug here in Maine. Makes a nice window bottle.
> 
> Cliff



Definitely, now I really want to dig one for myself! Buying one just doesn’t feel the same.. 


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## woods_walker

Dewfus said:


> View attachment 218331View attachment 218332
> 
> 1890s Walter raupfert brewing company columbia city indiana found it on the bottom of a hill at my sister in laws View attachment 218331View attachment 218332



Wow nice! I’ve found blob tops on the surface but never a complete one. Congrats on the nice find! 


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## Nickneff

I have


woods_walker said:


> Definitely, now I really want to dig one for myself! Buying one just doesn’t feel the same..
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Friends I have dug thousands there's nothing there's no more enjoyment then digging up a really nice piece I'll tell you a funny story I already told a story about a marble under my knee now I'm going to tell story about I was digging one day i  was down about 12 feet deep in a 20 foot brickline Privy kept stepping on something I thought it was a rock or broken bottle or something I look down and guess what it was it was a mouth of a jug when I got down to that level I dug The Jug out and it was whole no damage 2 gallon jug scratch jug took it to a old friend of mine that'ss been collecting Stone pottery and jugs for about 40 years he never heard of it it was extremely rare jug from New Albany Indiana I kept it for a while but I end up selling it to him he kept bugging me about it he had to have it but it was funny I was standing on it and didn't even know it happy Hunting guys and girls be safe


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## RelicRaker

Found this outside a construction site. Neartly mistook it for a modern crowntop.
Arnholt & Schaefer, Philly.


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## Nickneff

Flasks said:


> I noticed a "hint" of blue along a slope I was walking and looking for bottles. Thinking it was just a shard of some common broken blue bottle, such as milk of magnesia, etc. I walked over to it and noticed the blue protrusion was round. At that point I pulled out this beer realizing I had never found a cobalt beer, let alone one that only needed gentle cleaning.


That's what I'm talking about awesome


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