Most valuable acl soda bottle in your area

This forum contains an almost endless number of discussions about this-and-that acl soda bottles, but as far as I know there has never been a thread devoted solely to the most valuable, most sought after acl soda bottle in a specific locale, city, town. Every time I attend a bottle show or walk through an antique shop and observe the array of acl bottles on display, I often wonder if I might be overlooking an acl from another locale that I'm not familiar with, but one that is in high demand elsewhere and that collectors are willing to pay top dollar for. Hence, the reason for this thread to ask members to share the number one most valuable acl soda bottle in your particular region. Those of us who have been collecting acls over the years should know by now exactly what that particular acl bottle is, and by sharing them here we will have a book of sorts to assist us in identifying those oh-so rare and highly sought after bottles from coast to coast. In some areas there might be two or more top contenders, and if that's the case in your locale, then by all means share them. But for the most part I'd like to keep this focused on the most valuable. Even if you don't own a particular acl, please list it anyway and show a picture of it if you have one. And if you don't have a picture, maybe someone else does and can share it on your behalf. And as for values go, please indicate what a mint condition example is worth.

So without further ado, here is the most valuable, most sought after, rarest acl soda bottle from ...

San Diego, California

I know local collectors who have been looking for one of these for over twenty years and have never even come close to finding one. I used to own a ratty example that I paid $75.00 for, and then a couple of years later sold it for $125.00. In true mint condition, one of these is easily worth ...

$1,000.00

I know several local collectors who would gladly pay that amount for a mint example. Its a ...

30 Below

... and has the image of an Eskimo and a Penguin on the label.

So there you have it, the most valuable, most sought after, rarest acl soda bottle from San Diego, California.

Now let's see one from your area! (Acls only, please)

Thanks,

Sodapopbob


(This particular example is not in mint condition, but sold on eBay in 2013 for $849.00)

Even the "30 Below" bottle caps are highly sought after. This particular example sold in 2008 for $46.50 ...

And here's the "30 Below" bottle I paid $75.00 for and sold for $125.00 ...

Even though the main focus here pertains to the number one acl in your area, watch for these other San Diego acls as well. These belong to a local collector and the glare is from a glass case they are displayed in. The values indicated are for mint condition examples ...

To reiterate the emphasis of this thread ...

Those of us who attend bottle shows and frequent antique shops might see an extremely rare acl bottle from another locale but have no clue as to its value and walk right pass it. Hence, if we share enough of the top contenders, then we'll know what to watch for and possibly make a little profit in the process. Just image if you came across a mint condition San Diego "30 Below" that was priced at $10 and were able to sell it for $1,000.

By the way ...

There are variations of the "30 Below" acl. Here's a green variation from Watertown, South Dakota. For all I know this green variation might be as common as dirt in Watertown and not worth more than $10.00. But if it were amber and from San Diego, then all of a sudden the local interest value jumps up to $1,000. Unless I knew this green variation was valuable and sought after in other areas, I wouldn't be interested in it even if it was offered to me for $10.00. Its funny how "local interest" can dramatically change the value of a bottle.

Lastly ...

I especially like these types of threads because they allow "everyone" to participate. So please let us hear from as many members as possible and tell us what the most valuable acl soda bottle is in your area of the country.

Great idea for a thread Bob. I have a bunch of local stuff from Michigan, but have only been collecting for close to 5 yrs now. So I am not fully knowledgeable of local stuff around me. I hope to be there someday. But I look forward to seeing others post there local stuff.

I think this is a great idea for a thread. Personally, I do not collect ACL's (at the moment), but I am very much looking forward to what shows up here. By the way, if anyone knows the most valuable ACL from northeast Louisiana (Monroe area), please feel fee to share it. I have a feeling it may be a variant of the Big Chief Soda, but I don't know that for certain.

iggy/Bass

Were it not for my association with the San Diego bottle club I probably would not know which of the local acls were the most valuable. I'm not a member of the club but I attend their shows and know a couple of the members personally. In fact, it was through those members that I acquired some of my best local bottles. So I can understand not knowing what the rarest and most sought after acls might be in your particular areas if you happen to not be associated with your nearest club. What prompted me to start this thread involved a "Pippo" acl I recently found from Gallup, New Mexico and my inability to find out anything about it. Its not listed in Rick Sweeney's 2002 ACL book, which got me to thinking it might be as rare and valuable to New Mexico collectors as the 30 Below bottle is to San Diego collectors. I even posted an inquiry on the New Mexico Facebook bottle collectors site to see if anyone knew anything about the Pippo bottle, but I have not received a reply yet.

Speaking of Rick Sweeney's 2002 ACL book, I went through it and found the following acls from your general areas. In doing so I only looked for acls that were listed as ER/Extremely Rare. However, because the Sweeney book is 16 years old, I'm not sure if those ER ratings are still valid. Anyway, here are a few that are listed in the book ...

Michigan

Sun Maid ~ Detroit
Noel's Cola ~ Corinath

Louisiana

Country Music ~ Church Pointe
Big Cola w/image of a whale ~ Birmingham

Note: All four of these acl labels are pictured in the book, which I can scan and post at your request. There have been discussions on the forum about the "Big Cola" but I'm not sure if its still considered as rare, nor if its in high demand.