Australian Antique Bottle Website - Frequently Asked Questions

The Frequently Asked Questions section on this website is based off real questions that I
have been asked over the years.

Q: How much are my old bottles worth?
A: First read through this website carefully, then email me with some digital photos and/or
descriptions and i'll provide a free valuation for you.

Q: I have some old bottles I want to sell, what should I do?
A: Send me an email with digital photos and/or descriptions & we'll take it from there. I'm
constantly buying bottles but even if i'm not interested myself, I can usually put you in
contact with someone who is.

Q: I'm a new bottle collector, what should I do first??
A: Subscribe to the national bottle magazine & buy some back-issues (if you can find them).
Read everything you can, knowledge is extremely important in this hobby !

Q: Where can I buy old bottles?
A: Local secondhand & antique shops are a good start. eBay is also a decent way to buy, but
be very careful, you can get ripped off if you don't know exactly what you're doing.

Q: Where can I find old bottles?
A: You find them yourself by digging but be very careful as it is often illegal to dig and
remove relics from the ground without permission from the relevant authorities.

Q: I found some old bottles but they're dirty =( How should I clean them?
A: Check the 'cleaning' link on the left-hand-side.

Q: Are Australian antique bottles a good investment?
A: Recent market trends would suggest YES but like all things (especially collectables)
prices are up and down, so there's no guarantee. If my opinion counts, then yes, I believe
bottles are a great investment.

Q: How old does a bottle have to be to be considered 'antique' or 'valuable'?
A: Usually something has to be 100+ years old to be considered an antique, however in the
bottle world, bottles can be valuable even if they are only 50 years old. Typically, bottles
need to be at least 75 years old to be considered valuable.

.....and here are some not-so-serious questions ;)

Q: Do any famous Australians collect old bottles?
A: As far as I know there is only one, and that is Captain Cogman (the W.A. scrap metal
king). He's pretty famous.

Q: What is the font you use on this website?
A: It comes from the old Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) maps from the late 1800s/early 1900s. About 3/4 of the alphabet comes from there, the other 1/4 I made myself. So you won't see it on any other website & its not available as a true-type font (its all done by hand).

Q: Are you crazy - empty bottles?? What about full ones?
A: Good question, full bottles are also of interest, but only the contents because the
container itself is not old enough !!

Q: Do you play rugby for Melbourne Storm?
A: No, that's not me, that's Cooper Cronk. But we're probably related somehow...

Q: Doesn't AABW stand for "Antarctic Bottom Water"?
A: Yep, and it also stands for the 'Ayrshire Association of Business Women'. Now i'm not
100% certain, but i'm pretty sure that I used it first !

Q: Which are better, hybrids or bitters?
A: Hybrids look like white jellybeans, bitters look like fruit bon bons. Enough said.