Digging up bottle - drawn by Lloyd Marchand

Dating Antique 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:

  2. Base type (for examples, click here):

  3. Top type (for examples, see click here):

If your bottle is embossed "Federal Law Prohibits ...", then your bottle dates between 1933 (end of Prohibition) and 1970.

If your bottle is American and has a patent number, check out this Table of U.S. Patent Numbers to help date your bottle. Also see the US Patent and Trademark Office where you can do a search to find more info on a US Patent.

If your bottle is English and has a registration number, check out this Dating English Glass page that shows the year for each registration number between 1876 and 1920.

If you want further help on dating your bottle, then contact: Reggie Lynch at Email rlynch@antiquebottles.com


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