If I would you I would just leave the newer screw top bottles and ones from the 1960's and later. Most of the newer or common bottles have minimum value and would cost money to keep relisting them.
Since I live in Michigan I could always help you look around that michigan house you own with 1800's house nearby. Most will say a 1930's-40's dump sucks for bottles but thety are good for Beer cans which I also collect. LEON.
THe MI house I have is in New Buffalo.... Very south MI, Just over the Indiana line. Real close to Lake Michigan..... And just 30 miles from there, in Indiana... I know where there many of old foundations, no one will care if dug around... Places where no been in extremely long time... Places where you find lots of buried 1910-30's cars (nothing savable). And a place where has good odds of digging up dinosaur bones... seems like someone does every year around this area... I still waiting for the day I find some... lol MI house... would have to wait to dry up more... Odds are will hit water fast with all rains we had.
You might want to try some of the suggestions listed, craigs list or rent a spot in a consignment antique store to see if any interest..Any pictures of some of the stuff
It's always good to see someone excited about their finds.But, woof. That's sight to behold I'll bet. Best I get is my nephew/niece's house. But they built atop the bottle dump. XD. I pulled out shattered remains of what would have been the oldest. Only brought back one century-old piece. Are there any from West Michigan? I read a home around Mi, so I'm wondering... I love Michigan bottles.
/In all this thread I didn't see any mention of the fact that collectors mainly want bottles without vertical seams on the finish (TOP CLOSURE SECTION OF A BOTTLE). If there are these seams, the bottle was made on an ABM (Automatic Bottle Machine), and only has salvage recycling value. RED Matthews
Recycling? You cannot be serious. One ABM bottle on my table has a value no less than $50, selling up to $100. It's desired. Not to be recycled. I'd get more for it than it's deposit-return value.
Unfortunately, ABM bottles are rarely worth more than a couple bucks. There are a few rare cases when they actually have value because of the embossing. Usually, I just leave ABM bottles behind, unless they have some sort of interesting embossing or is a local.
The ABM thing only applies to bottles that aren't sodas or milks. Sodas and milks are the whole reason people dig ABM dumps, and some can go for hundreds of dollars (but not usually that much if they aren't ACLs). If you're in an area that didn't see much development before the twentieth century, especially one that has a significant bottle collecting population, then sodas and milks could be real treasures.