Capt. Ed Slater's

Antique Bottle Collecting Guide

Bottle Collecting

(above) bottle recovered from the Iberia Wreck by Capt. Slater

Scuba divers often find themselves in excellent bottle hunting locations. Many wrecks hold bottles and many beach dive sites also offer excellent bottle hunting. Above left are some of Capt. Dan Berg's bottles and right Capt. Hank Garvin with bottles recovered from the USS San Diego sunk 1918.SanDiego wreck

On this page you will find information on bottle hunting as well as how to accurately date your antique bottles.

(left) Capt. Dan with bottles recovered from the LizzieD wreck  a prohibition rumrunner sunk in the 1920's. (right) Capt. Dan, Jimmy Faz and Capt. Ed Slater with bottles recovered from the Oregon wreck sunk 1886.

(left) Jimmy Faz with a Congress bottle from the Oregon. (right) Capt. Hank Garvin with an intact bottle from the Emerald Wreck sunk 1860's

Other good Shipwrecks to explore for antique bottles Asfalto  & Bald Eagle

Capt. Ed recovered this case gin (1700's) black glass bottle while beach diving off Long Island. The Marble Stopper bottle was recovered from a shallow water shipwreck. Both were found in 2005 

Book Description This revised edition of Cleveland's popular bottle guide features over 4,000 bottles listed alphabetically including Avon, medicine bottles, Jim Beam, bitters, and many more. Black and white photos. 2004 values. AUTHORBIO: Hugh Cleveland was a passionate collector of bottles, and made it his lifelong hobby. His Bottle Pricing Guide has become a standard in the field. Though now deceased, Cleveland's years of collecting and research continue to aid collectors in their searches. REVIEW: This book continues to be the standard reference among bottle collectors, complete with over 4,000 listings and hundreds of black and white photographs. Besides the detailed information provided in each listing, there are also tips on identifying and buying and selling bottles

 
Many people are intrigued to know how old their bottle is. There are three keys to help with dating most bottles:

1. Side seams:

   the seams on the bottle can assist with dating most bottles:

   • No Seams on bottle: bottle may be hand blown, probably has a very uneven shape and is probably a pre-1860 item.

     Or bottle may present an even shape, but was spun in a mold to smooth out the seams. Then bottle is dated 1900's->1920.

   • Blown In Mold: The seams run from bottom and end a little below the top. The bottle lip may be crude and was applied by hand. The bottle is dated 1860's - early 1900's.
   • 3 piece mold: Bottom part of bottle (from bottom to shoulder) there are no seams - then there's a seam near shoulder that runs around the bottle. From this shoulder seam are two seams that go up the neck and stop below the top of the lip. This was used from 1840-1870. As with 'Blown in Mold' the lip has a crude look and was applied by hand.
   • Automatic Bottle Machine: The seams run to the top of the bottle, then the bottle is ABM {made by automatic bottle machine} These bottles started around 1904, and by 1920's almost all bottles were made by this process.
   •  
   • None: bottle may be free blown, in which case it has a very uneven shape and dates before 1860. Or the bottle may have a nice even shape, but was spun in the mold to smooth out the seams; a practice common around 1900-1920.
   • BIM: side seams run from base and end below the top of lip, which is the result of Blowing In Mold (BIM). Can usually tell that lip is crude and was applied by hand.
   • 3PM: 3 piece mold. Bottom half (from base to shoulder) has no seams, then there is a seam near the shoulder that runs completely around the circumference of the bottle. From this shoulder seam are two side seams that run up the neck and end below the top of the lip. 3PM was primarily in use from 1840-70. Can usually tell that lip is crude and was applied by hand.
   • ABM: if the side seams run thru the top of the lip, then the bottle is ABM (made by an Automatic Bottle Machine). The first ABM bottles started appearing in 1905, and by 1920 most bottles were being made by this method.

    

2. Base type (for examples, click here):
   • Open pontilled: usually date before 1860.
   • Iron pontilled: usually date 1845-1870.
   • Smooth: usually date 1870 or later.

    

3. Top type (for examples, see click here):
   • Matthews gravitating stopper: date after 1864.
   • Codd stopper: date after 1873 when Hiram Codd invented this bottle.
   • Hutchinson blob top: date after 1879.
   • Lightning stopper: date after 1880.
   • Crown Top: date after 1892 (when crown top was invented).
   • Screw Top: usually date after 1920.
   • Applied lip: date before 1900.
   • Tooled lip: date after about 1890.
   • Other: there were many varieties of tops as you can see in the examples, so if the top is not crown and not screw, then rely on the other two factors (Sides Seams and Base Type) to date your bottle.
   •  

      

     Crown Top on	Blob Top on	Blob Top on	Rolled Lip on
     Sheared Lip on	Ground Lip on	Smooth Lip on	Double Screw Top on
     		Sloping Collar on
     Flared Lip on	Pour Lip on	Pinched Pour Lip on

      

    
   Bottles shown above were recovered from the Oregon wreck sunk 1886.

      

1921	1922		1924
1926	1927	1928	1928

1928	1929	1934	1935
1936	1937	1938	1938

1939	1939	1940	1941
1941	1941	1942