Druggist pharmacy bottle question.

[flasherr]

I know this is going to be a hard question to give an exact answer to, but i will ask anyways. What should a pharmacy drug store bottle with a drug store and town name be worth in the minimum range? i know it depends on town size age of bottle so many factors dictate a value. but we will just say a fairly common embossed drug store name and city on bottle. I see them from time to time and don't know when to buy and when to pass. I still have a dumb phone with out internet to do a quick research when im out in field. My collection is mostly soda so this is out of my range of knowledge. I know anything owl should be good. i also know anything embossed with Texas towns i have ever had is worth $10 plus.

I have had good success with Matt's book on regular med and cure type bottles ( cant wait for newest edition to come out). but looking for some type of guidelines on the other type bottles.
i look forward to your answers

 

[epackage]

I can't wait to hear the answers...[8D]

 

[Wheelah23]

Regular, generic prescription bottles from a general "local" drugstore? I'd say mint, any one, even from a big city, could get $5... As the towns get smaller or the embossing gets cooler or the bottle gets rarer, the prices go up...

 

[botlguy]

I know I probably shouldn't try to answer this but it was asked in all honesty.

Any pharmacy bottle from the two towns I collect, Santa Ana, Calif. & Coeur d' Alene, Idaho are worth $15.00 - $20.00, some more. Some from neighboring Spokane, Wash. are worth no more than $5.00 at best while some are worth $100.00 +. I would also say that size is indeed important. 1/2 oz. and 8 oz. plus pharms bring a bit, sometimes a lot, more.

If you are buying on speculation I would say $5.00 is good for any very good condition pharmacy bottle.

Now that didn't hurt too bad.[]

 

[flasherr]

Thanks for the answers so far. I know its a tough one to answer because so many variables on the question make the possibilities endless. So $5 is a good starting point.

glad it didn't hurt to bad botlguy. thanks for your input

 

[Brains]

i've seen sort'uh just like $5 as a general base price, but i feel like that's pretty abstract. Perhaps $3 is better. I should also mention that i failed to pay the $5 price on the bottles i saw, so maybe they're not worth that much even, or maybe i was just too lazy to buy them? $5 isn't that bad... especially for a nicely embossed example, even if it's from a big city and it's a common size.

 

[jays emporium]

That is a good question and I have some experience in that area. I often buy drug store bottles for resale so I have to make that decision all the time. Assumuing they are clear glass and nice condition, the factors I consider are State, big city or small town, picture or not, interesting name, and size. Generally northern states are more common than southern and western states. The hardest 3 states are Alaska, Hawaii, New Mexico. Those would usually sell in the $100 range. Some other good states are Arizona, Utah, Idaho, North and South Dakota, Montana. Those would be in the $25-$50 category. Then there are a whole bunch of states in the $10-$25 range. The most common ones are NY, Pa, Ma, Me, NJ, NH, that sell for $5-$10.
I will usually buy just about any in nice condition and over 1 ounce size for $5. except large cities from the most common states. I very seldom lose money on them and sometimes score big if someone from that town and someone with that last name get in a bidding war.
I have bought about 20 embossed drug store bottles on my current buying trip and paid $5 for most of them but took a chance on a few nice picture bottles and paid $10 for some of them. I'll have them on ebay in about a month.
Jay

 

[flasherr]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge Jay. I don't run across them often but hate to pass them up but can be skidish when buying items im not familiar with for resale.

 

[Penn Digger]

I agree with what most have posted. Local clear druggists don't bring much. Pictoral drugists and aqua ones bring more. A nice color like teal blue/green and then the price goes up pretty fast. Have dug 50 local clear druggists in one spot and watched the same go unsold on the bay with no bids. Plain clear embossed non-pictoral druggists have little appeal to most. They sell like a bromo. Cheap, if at all. If a druggist was only in busines for a short time, then another story.

PD

 

[CanYaDigIt]

That's a tough one. It really does depend on the town, and it's really only the "local" collectors that drive the price. I collect druggists from Sacramento, which are plentiful to say the least. I've spent anywhere from $5 for commons to $150 for rarer clear ones. Colored ones range from $300+. The highest ones I've seen here in CA are from Bodie and Placerville. Small, clear, non-fancy, and damaged still push $50-$75 with a bigger, more fancy, and mint one going for around $500. It really is one of the categories that depends on "what's it worth to you?"