First Poison!

[HaxX0r]

Hi everyone,
I've been lurking here for a few months now. I really appreciate the fact that you treat all bottle collectors equally. The newbie who posts a picture of a common screw top from the 60's gets the same congratulations and encouragement as the veteran collector posting the rarest of finds.

My friend and I found this poison bottle in an old coal camp dump here in West Virginia. It's 3.5 inches tall, the seams go all the way to the top, and it has the letter 'M' in a circle with the number '7' below it on the bottom.

The bottle was found on the 2nd trip to the dump. It was just lying on top of the dirt left behind from the previous dig, so it had to have washed out of the top of the hill. Guess we should have kept going!

I'd appreciate any information about the date, manufacturer, value, and the possible contents of this bottle.

 

[Miles]

Are there any markings on it?

The seam all the way up means it's probably from 1900-1920.

It's a wonderful bottle, however the cork looks brand new. Are you absolutely sure this isn't a repro?
If it's not, it looks like a desirable bottle.

 

[Jim]

Nice find! You have a KU-18 coffin poison. This bottle likely contained mercury bichloride tablets sold by the Norwich Pharmacal Company. The maker of the bottle is Maryland Glass Co., and with that mark on the bottom, it dates in the 1920s or possibly very early 30s. This is a fairly scarce poison, and should be valued around $75 if no damage. Maryland Glass was located in Baltimore, and specialized in cobalt colored bottles. I believe they went out of business in the early 70s. Norwich Pharmacal was out of New York, and sold these coffins in cobalt and amber in various sizes. There were also other companies who had them. The small cobalt is the most commonly seen, but still scarce and in high demand by collectors. Jim

 

[atticmint]

Great poison. I have a few nice Canadian flatbacks, but nothing in that coffin style shape. If you ever decide to part with it let me know. []

 

[HaxX0r]

Thanks for all the info guys. I'm totally sure this isn't a repro. It was covered and filled with dirt when found...I just put the cork in it for "ambience" [] I'll try to post pictures of some of our other finds from this dump, but I think this poison is probably our best find to date.

 

[ukpoisonman]

I have been tempted to acquire one of these from ebay, but havent succeeded so far..... I am now concerned from what i read above. Were these bottles ever reproduced in any way ????? As i have seen various reproduction bottles in wild colours such as RIP coffin and schoolhouse ink bottles by Wheaton........

 

[Jim]

Repro coffins are quite common, but I've never seen one that is historically accurate. If it looks like the one above, it's probably a good one. The Wheatons and other repros have a skull and crossbones and say "RIP Use With Care". There is also a repro coffin with a wreath on it. They come in an array of colors, including blue, green , red, yellow and purple. These are "fantasy bottles" which are not based on an actual design of a real bottle. There are some genuine coffins with skulls and crossbones. Those are quite rare, but easily distinguishable from the repros. For reference, I would recommend either Rudy Kuhn's workbook or the APBCA American Poison Bottle Workbook. These books illustrate all known types of American coffin poisons. Good luck in your search, Rob. I hope this info helps. Jim

 

[madman]

yo hax great find !!! i also have a ku18 found in a dump bim, i find like 3 poisons per dump! again nice find!!!!!!! mike

 

[Jim]

Awesome find, Mike! I've never even found a piece of a coffin. Maybe some day. Definitely a keeper! Jim

 

[madman]

hey jim thanks for the info!! only one ive ever dug, best of dump lol. also that machine made coffin is sweet, very early for a machine made bottle!! looks like bim. mike