Help!!! I've inherited a mess!!!

[Amylj1971]

I recently inherited my late grandfather's massive bottle collection and don't know what to do. My aunt asked me to please take these bottles out of my grandmothers pole barn because she thought my husband would like them. The problem is, there are probably over 300 or more bottles here and now I don't know what to do with them. We don't have the storage for all of these and to be quite truthful I would like to only keep a few of them for sentimental reasons. I am trying to sell some of them on ebay but to do this with all of them would take forever. I have been trying to do some research and have a couple of books but still don't really know what i've got here. There are medicine bottles, prohibition, beer, pop, food bottles and some odd things like water bottles and strange shaped ones. I have no idea how long these were in the pole barn but I do know that most of them are pretty old. Also, if a bottle has something like B 21 or just the number 22 on the bottom, what does it mean? I can't find anything on that kind of mark. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I will try to post a picture of some of them to give an idea of what i've got here.....

 

[Oldtimer]

ORIGINAL: Amylj1971

I recently inherited my late grandfather's massive bottle collection and don't know what to do. My aunt asked me to please take these bottles out of my grandmothers pole barn because she thought my husband would like them. The problem is, there are probably over 300 or more bottles here and now I don't know what to do with them. We don't have the storage for all of these and to be quite truthful I would like to only keep a few of them for sentimental reasons. I am trying to sell some of them on ebay but to do this with all of them would take forever. I have been trying to do some research and have a couple of books but still don't really know what i've got here. There are medicine bottles, prohibition, beer, pop, food bottles and some odd things like water bottles and strange shaped ones. I have no idea how long these were in the pole barn but I do know that most of them are pretty old. Also, if a bottle has something like B 21 or just the number 22 on the bottom, what does it mean? I can't find anything on that kind of mark. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I will try to post a picture of some of them to give an idea of what i've got here.....

Image removed from quote - Admin

Wow.

Can you tell newer from older? First, separate the "finished top" (usually pre 1900) from the Automatic Bottle Machine (ABM) bottles. Keep what few ABM bottles that are blue/green or are special to you. Send the rest of the ABMs.

The "pre-1900's" bottles will hold the most value. Check for Pontils, the sharp broken spot on the bottom. Also, look for "iron pontils"..It will look like a coating of reddish dirt on the bottom center. These pontiled and improved pontiled bottles should be keepers.
A Kovels price guide to bottles can be found in any decent book store. It will help a lot.

From the pic you posted, I would venture a guess that you have 95% ABMs. Post pics of the pre 1900 ones.

 

[Amylj1971]

Thank You!! that helps a ton! I wasn't really sure where to start but now I have a starting point. There are quite a few of the pontil bottles in the bunch. I will try to send some pics of a few. Please tell me what you think, the books I have and the one's I have checked out of the library aren't really as specific (I need pictures) as I had hoped. I took some of these to a local antique dealer and he acted like he would do me the favor of buying them for a couple of bucks but I wanted to be sure first....This one says A B Co

 

[Amylj1971]

Ok, here's another one.....oh oh, i'm starting to really enjoy this!! This one just says 22 inside an off-center pontil (don't know if you can tell from the pic)

 

[Amylj1971]

nother one....

 

[BARQS19]

Go by names not numbers. The name could be on the side, at the top or at the bottom, etc. Sometimes a bottle had a paper label and what you may think be a name on the bottom could be the glass manufacturer but don't worry about that for now just take every screw top bottle and put it in a seperate pile and go from there. The screw top bottles are the newer bottles that most people ignore. But don't thow them away, just set them aside for now because there may be something special in there. Get every bottle that doesn't have a screw top on it and seperate them into piles of bottles with names, and piles of bottles without names. Then start listing the bottles with names on here so members can help you out with what they are.
Robert

 

[Amylj1971]

Thank you! You guys are a big help, I wish I would have found this site sooner. I'll post a few here and there....as there are so many it will take forever but I really value all of the input[&:]

 

[old digger]

Wow is right, hang in there , take a few good deep breaths and go through the bottles like BARQ said, it'll help to get things into smaller lots. Be careful not to discard any bottles to quickly, you'll find loads of honest help here! So take your time, ask any questions you need to, we'll help all we can.

 

[Oldtimer]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news................but those are not pontiled. Those are mold marks. An open pontil will cut you if you are not careful.

Try this site for some visual help.Privydigger

 

[David E]

The ABCo 1905 to 1916 American bottle (Part of Owens co of 1917 to 1929)
The clear one looks to me like a machine scar and can't read all the letters but do see a diamond which may be for Diamond Glass 1888 to date
the mark of diamond used since 1924.

Dave