About 150 Hand Blown Glass Bottle Stoppers

[davemill]

Today I visited a woodworking shop to buy a used power tool. The owner showed me a box of hand-blown bottle stoppers he had found underneath the floor of an old pharmacy during a renovation.

There are about 150 stoppers in the box, in three colors: black, deep blue and cyan/teal. All are hand-blown, as evidenced by the unique shapes, internal bubbles and cut marks on the bottoms. The only two that are not hand-blown are the flat one in the box and the large one on the table-both of those have visible seams.

They appear unused, with no scratches on the conical part. All are quite dusty. For the second photo, I wiped a few clean with a cotton towel.

My uneducated guess is that these were intended to seal medicine bottles but never used.

If those images don't show, here are the links:
https://flic.kr/p/zbqEEN
https://flic.kr/p/zbqEVh

What should my carpenter friend do with this collection? Just sell the lot on eBay?

 

[Dangit]

Man, those are cool. If they're worth something, he's going to cash in.

 

[GLASSHOPPER1955]

I have dug a few of those through the years, both cobalt blue and clear ones. Never have I seen that many in one place though. Heck, I'd sell the whole lot on Ebay and if they don't sell, split 'em up into lots and try again.

GLASSHOPPER1955

 

[Strollmasta]

dang those are nice! Great find!

 

[Dflan83]

I love the look of old glass. Just not made like it use to be.. I would keep them and find some bottles to stop them with

 

[NectarDetector]

Would make a great ART piece!

 

[Swinglow]

I love the look of old glass. Just not made like it use to be.. I would keep them and find some bottles to stop them with

If you don't know what they're worth and have the time, list them 1 or 2 at a time. Don't tip your hat to potential buyers. Make them think "hey, i better bid this up...who knows if I'll ever see more of them for sale"

Something like that, I'd bet most people would think is cool and wouldn't mind paying for 1 or 2, but not a huge box. A huge box/bulk lot will seriously limit your potential buyers. You'll be more likely to sell to a flipper who will piece them out for profit. Plus, who would want to ship all that in one box. Too much risk for disaster by the delivery service.

Also, I wouldn't list too many at one time. If you flood the market, it will drive the price down.

This advice assumes your friend has the time to list these in piecemeal.

 

[Digger-Dave]

This advice assumes your friend has the time to list these in piecemeal.

Just to see what they sell like, why not just put a small lot out on Ebay. See what kind of bidding goes on for like a group of 3.

They look great!

 

[cellrdwellr]

Great finds!

 

[Pennyfinder]

Wow awesome find how cool.

 

[Ricki7]

Agree awesome , they will go fast !
HH