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ShoozMadHouse

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My uncle passed away a few years back and left me his antique bottle collection. I just went and picked it up this weekend and geez! I don't even know where to start. He was obsessed with Big Chief, but there are atleast 20 boxes of bottles that I now have. How should I go about cataloging this much stuff. I would like to eventually get values for everything but I don't know where to start. It's a bit overwhelming going from no bottles to hundreds if not thousands of bottles. How would yall suggest I go about sorting and valuing them. Thanks
 

Harry Pristis

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You can post good images here, say four at a time. Line 'em up in the same focal plane in a bright window. Transcribe all embossing for each bottle (number each bottle for reference). Forum subscribers will opine.
 

ACLbottles

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Welcome to the forum! Sounds like quite the collection!
If I were sorting them, I would probably just group them by brands. For example, put all the Big Chiefs together; if you have any other brands, put all those together. If not, you could always group them by what they held (soda, medicine, etc; though it sounds like what you have is mainly going to be sodas) or by the state listed on the bottle (if any). Devote some space/boxes to each group and then it may be much easier for you to find info on the similar bottles.
As far as valuing them, I would suggest searching online for information. Just googling a bottle can lead to a lot of great information. eBay is a great resource for getting an idea of what to expect on value; just type what it says on the bottle and check the "completed listings" box. If you're looking to sell I suggest you try to get as much information on the bottles as possible before you do so.
Also, if you can't find any info online, this forum is an excellent place to get info! Just post your question in the appropriate forum with a description and pictures and you'll get some responses. There are many members here who are experts in this hobby and can tell you everything you want or need to know.
Even if you don't have any questions or already have the information you want, still feel free to post what you have here just to show us! I, for one, am very curious to see what you've got, and all of us love to see pictures!
Good luck and keep us updated on what you have!
 

RCO

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one thing that would really help is if there was some pictures of the bottles for people to look at , now just cause we were curious to see whats there but so we have a better idea of the type of bottles he collected.
bottle values are somewhat confusing , I wouldn't rely on ebay that much as some sellers can be a bit greedy and often ask more than what it really see for at other places .
condition of the bottles also matters a lot , are they really good condition ? or is there issues like chips or faded paint/colours on many of them . a bottle in really good condition is going to be more desirable than one in poor condition
 

ShoozMadHouse

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They seem to be in good condition, 90% are in foam sleeves and we're in display cases. The big chief seemed to be his prized possession because some of them have tags indicating their origin. A few things that stood out as being really cool was a box of 4 one gallon car boys of 7up extract (empty) wooden coke crates full of coke bottles, a few seltzer big chiefs. Again, I was just loading this stuff up, so I really don't know what is there. I will sort through it all in the coming weeks and posts some pictures.
 
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botlguy

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My first thought is: Do you want to be a collector or a seller? Are you going to add to what you have, specialize, part with some, or sell them all? If you are going to sell are you willing to take the time to sell them individually or do you want to get rid of them in one bunch? You need an honest mentor either way. Good luck.
Jim
 

bigber4604

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I can help out with Big Chief questions if you have any. I'd sort them by ACL and embossed then by state of origin. If you are selling any Big Chiefs, I'd love to see what you've got.
 

ShoozMadHouse

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I will try to get some pictures this weekend when I am off. Thanks everyone!
 

ShoozMadHouse

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I will try to get some pictures this weekend when I am off. Thanks everyone!
 

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