What Are Some Valuable Antique Soda Bottles?
While many older Coca-Cola bottles are of little value due to mass production, the Hutchinson Coca-Cola bottles are rare and potentially worth several thousand dollars each. These bottles were in circulation from the mid 1890s to the early 1900s, according to Phil Mooney for the Coca-Cola Company.
Due to their limited time on the market, Hutchinson bottles are difficult to find. One of these bottles, in good condition with an intact script-lettered Coca-Cola logo, is valued at between $2,500 to $4,000. Altogether, there are only about one dozen varieties of these bottles that hail from a handful of cities in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia.
A characteristic that makes Hutchinson bottles unique is the metal stopper used to keep them sealed. This stopper is what gave rise to the term "soda pop," as it made a "popping" sound when its seal was broken by someone preparing to drink from the bottle. Eventually, Coca-Cola began phasing out the stoppers and replacing them with bottle caps.
Another collectible, potentially valuable type of Coca-Cola bottle is the straight-sided bottle marketed at the beginning of the 20th century. Such bottles fetch prices between $25 to as high as $400 depending on the bottle's condition.
