Anybody for giving me a crash coarse on bottle dating?

[John 'n' W.Va]

They are demo-ing some homes and I found this under a sidewalk in the dirt. Don't know anything about bottles. Maybe I should learn. I keep running across them here in W.V. I don't think it is that old, but was just wondering what the letters on the bottom meant.

[attachment 69537 9-29-07bottle.jpg]

Just a few things I found yesterday. I wanted you to see the bottle better.

[attachment 69538 9-29-07total.jpg]

 

[DukeOBass]

Hi John,

What you have is a machine-made "junker". Here's a 60 second bottle id spew.

First of all look at the mouth of the bottle.

.... You're looking for anything that doesn't have a screw top type mouth. (Except if the top edge of the mouth looks and feels like it was groud down on a grinding stone - these are good)

Look for colored glass.

.... Most old glass was Aqua or light blue colored. This was the cheapest kind of glass to manufacturer because of the natural impurities in sand. Other colors can be more valuable because minerals were added to the glass batch making the bottle more expensive to manufacture plus they are more pleasing to the eye and draw the attention of collectors.

Below the mouth look at the neck.

.... The mold seam should stop somewhere below the very top of the mouth. That upper part was formed using hand tools after after the bottle was blown.

Look at the base of the bottle.

.... Machine made bottles will have a thin impression of a ring around the outer edge. These are mostly junk. If you find a bottle with a mold seam that crosses the bottom (snap case mold) or if there is a rough glass scar (pontil mark) near the center of the bottom of the bottle. These are very old and in demand.

I hope this helps you.

 

[John 'n' W.Va]

n/t