Looking for a value.

[Roy]

I'm looking for ballpark value on a
JOHN T. & WILLIAM H. DALY
NEW YORK bottle.
The only sale I can find for this bottle was on ebay for $10.50.
I would expect to pay quite a bit more for one of these in decent condition. I have included a website address from The Western Bottle News article describing it. This article suggests this bottle is common but it sure doesn't seem like it.
I'm asking for a friend who has one so I didn't include any pictures.
Any information, comments, or a value for this or a similar bottle would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Roy

John T. & William H. Daly

John T and William H. Daly, wholesale liquor dealers located in New York City, bottled several types of spirits from the early 1850's and in...

www.westernbitters.com

 

[UncleBruce]

I'm looking for ballpark value on a
JOHN T. & WILLIAM H. DALY
NEW YORK bottle.
The only sale I can find for this bottle was on ebay for $10.50.
I would expect to pay quite a bit more for one of these in decent condition. I have included a website address from The Western Bottle News article describing it. This article suggests this bottle is common but it sure doesn't seem like it.
I'm asking for a friend who has one so I didn't include any pictures.
Any information, comments, or a value for this or a similar bottle would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Roy

John T. & William H. Daly

John T and William H. Daly, wholesale liquor dealers located in New York City, bottled several types of spirits from the early 1850's and in...

www.westernbitters.com

Your web reference is dated from 2012. Despite the embossing around the shoulder and the color it looks like a very plain bottle. In my opinion there are not a whole lot of collectors wanting plain looking bottles. The web page also says it is a "common bottle". VALUE is subjective and will vary from collector-to-collector contingent on their collecting preferences. You have no photo and no description of the condition, so it is impossible to evaluate it. Good luck in your research.

 

[Roy]

Your web reference is dated from 2012. Despite the embossing around the shoulder and the color it looks like a very plain bottle. In my opinion there are not a whole lot of collectors wanting plain looking bottles. The web page also says it is a "common bottle". VALUE is subjective and will vary from collector-to-collector contingent on their collecting preferences. You have no photo and no description of the condition, so it is impossible to evaluate it. Good luck in your research.

If it is in fact, ( common ), why can't I find any for sale anywhere?
Roy

 

[UncleBruce]

If it is in fact, ( common ), why can't I find any for sale anywhere?
Roy

Maybe the postage would cost more than the bottle is worth.

 

[GAjosh]

If it is in fact, ( common ), why can't I find any for sale anywhere?
Roy

A common misconception in antiquities is rarity translates to a higher value. Just because something is rare or even one of a kind, doesn't make it valuable.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

 

[CanadianBottles]

I'd be pretty surprised if an embossed, pontilled American whiskey is worth less than the cost of postage. Even if it is a relatively plain one. People pay considerably more than that for similarly plain Dyottville whiskies without a pontil or the distillery's name. I'm guessing instead that these are "common" in the sense that an embossed druggist from a small city is common, in that collectors specializing in that category of bottle will have an easier time finding it than most others of its type, but you still won't see them showing up on Ebay very often.

The Ebay one which you found is a later smooth-base variant, not the (presumably) pontil variant your friend has. It was also badly stained and, most importantly, had two massive chips out of the base and a couple more on the lip. The title didn't have any keywords that would attract whiskey collectors either, and the pictures were dark and out of focus. I would suspect that a pontil version in perfect condition and advertised with proper pictures would sell for several hundred dollars.

 

[Roy]

I'd be pretty surprised if an embossed, pontilled American whiskey is worth less than the cost of postage. Even if it is a relatively plain one. People pay considerably more than that for similarly plain Dyottville whiskies without a pontil or the distillery's name. I'm guessing instead that these are "common" in the sense that an embossed druggist from a small city is common, in that collectors specializing in that category of bottle will have an easier time finding it than most others of its type, but you still won't see them showing up on Ebay very often.

The Ebay one which you found is a later smooth-base variant, not the (presumably) pontil variant your friend has. It was also badly stained and, most importantly, had two massive chips out of the base and a couple more on the lip. The title didn't have any keywords that would attract whiskey collectors either, and the pictures were dark and out of focus. I would suspect that a pontil version in perfect condition and advertised with proper pictures would sell for several hundred dollars.

Thank you CanadianBottles,
I have to agree with everything you have said.
I haven't been looking for one of these
bottles at the bottle shows but I certainly will now and I will buy any in good condition that I find anywhere near
$10.50 without hesitation !!! I don't think they are common at all in CT.

I can't speak for other items but as far as antique bottles go, I believe rarity definitely affects the price in most cases.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has a DALY whiskey bottle and what value they would put on it.

Roy

 

[UncleBruce]

Thank you CanadianBottles,
I have to agree with everything you have said.
I haven't been looking for one of these
bottles at the bottle shows but I certainly will now and I will buy any in good condition that I find anywhere near
$10.50 without hesitation !!! I don't think they are common at all in CT.

I can't speak for other items but as far as antique bottles go, I believe rarity definitely affects the price in most cases.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has a DALY whiskey bottle and what value they would put on it.

Roy

Desirability not Rarity determines value. If no one wants it and it is the only one, then what is it worth? Nothing.

 

[willong]

Desirability not Rarity determines value. If no one wants it and it is the only one, then what is it worth? Nothing.

This is no reflection upon the particular bottle (of Roy's friend) under discussion, but I once heard or read commentary about how rarity vs desirability should be considered in determining the value of a collectible item. I was in the firearms business at the time, late 1970's to 1989, and considered the analogy apt enough that I adopted it for my own business purposes when trying to explain to someone why I wasn't interested in purchasing "grandpa's old gun." It goes roughly as follows:

"Ninety-nine-years-old virgins are undeniably old and rare, but they are not very desirable."

I should note that I usually exhibited more tact and did not jump to that quote as my first response in rejecting a customer's sale offer. However, one occasionally encounters a deluded, insistent and obnoxious person that one does not want to suffer further.

 

[saratogadriver]

The sticky ball pontiled version shown in the original post pretty much, in that color, with that form with the pontil, has to be a several hundred dollar bottle. We'd need pics of Roy's friend's bottle to be able to say more. Sounds like the one that sold on ebay was a bad listing, fairly badly damaged and a later smooth base varient. I'm going to say I THINK I've seen one or two of these on either Glassworks or Heckler over the years, and they don't appear to me to be a common bottle. Says the ink collector... Free advice worth what you pay for it.

Jim G