is a purple warranted flask worth more than a clear warranted flask ??

[matthewtextor100]

Hi this is Matt again
does anyone know if a purple warranted flask is worth more than a clear warranted flask ??
here are 2 photos

 

[unclemac]

on ebay it would be

 

[Tesorodeoro]

Both could be the same age bottle. One buried and one laying on the surface. Not familiar with “warranted bottles” People like purple bottles over clear. I know I do. An intact bottle laying on the surface for 118 years is a rarity in its self.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Sunlight over time will turn some clear bottles purple.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

Sunlight over time will turn some clear bottles purple.

Yes, mostly pre WW-1 bottles.

 

[unclemac]

it can (and is) faked too.

 

[ironhorse]

it can (and is) faked too.

true
a simple uv light over several days will turn clear glass to a colour ( depending on the reactive trace metals in the glass mix)

 

[UnderMiner]

Clear glass before WWI contained Manganese which turns purple under UV rays. It takes decades in nature, so ebay sellers will often fill a tanning bed with dozens of them and they'll turn dark purple very quickly, then people pay a premium for them. Ironically this is actually considered damage to the historic bottle collecting community so while home decorators pay more, bottle collectors often won't buy them at all. The good news about Warranted Flasks is, despite being pre-prohibition era collectables, they are very common, so the historic bottle collecting community doesn't pay much for them anyway.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

Clear glass before WWI contained Manganese which turns purple under UV rays. It takes decades in nature, so ebay sellers will often fill a tanning bed with dozens of them and they'll turn dark purple very quickly, then people pay a premium for them. Ironically this is actually considered damage to the historic bottle collecting community so while home decorators pay more, bottle collectors often won't buy them at all. The good news about Warranted Flasks is, despite being pre-prohibition era collectables, they are very common, so the historic bottle collecting community doesn't pay much for them anyway.

I’d be curious what whiskey bottle collector will not buy an embossed purple whiskey bottle. I’ve not heard of this before. Must be a new E-bay thing since the old 1960’s whiskey bottles make no distinction on it affecting value. Rarity is king. During my time clear bottles were trash unless they were old.

Then again bottle collecting since then has become a snobbish wealthyish purchaser market rather than purchasing being done by folks digging outhouses, dumps, and wells.

You are right on about the magnesium being redirected to the early war effort. It seems fruit jars and some medicine bottles were exempt because you typically see later examples turning purple.

For those interested, the blood red glass contained gold.

 

[UnderMiner]

I’d be curious what whiskey bottle collector will not buy an embossed purple whiskey bottle. I’ve not heard of this before. Must be a new E-bay thing since the old 1960’s whiskey bottles make no distinction on it affecting value. Rarity is king. During my time clear bottles were trash unless they were old.

Then again bottle collecting since then has become a snobbish wealthyish purchaser market rather than purchasing being done by folks digging outhouses, dumps, and wells.

You are right on about the magnesium being redirected to the early war effort. It seems fruit jars and some medicine bottles were exempt because you typically see later examples turning purple.

For those interested, the blood red glass contained gold.

Bottles that have been purposefully exposed the UV have flooded the market for the home decor people, the dedicated bottle collectors don't want artificially created purple bottles, they want either clear or naturally purple - and you can tell the difference. As for embossed warranted whiskey flasks, they're so common I regularly find them in other digger's ash piles abandoned by the dozen. They're still worth money, it's just a matter of priority when you have so many crates of more valuable bottles to move.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

Bottles that have been purposefully exposed the UV have flooded the market for the home decor people, the dedicated bottle collectors don't want artificially created purple bottles, they want either clear or naturally purple - and you can tell the difference. As for embossed warranted whiskey flasks, they're so common I regularly find them in other digger's ash piles abandoned by the dozen. They're still worth money, it's just a matter of priority when you have so many crates of more valuable bottles to move.

How do you tell the difference? Just curious.

 

[UnderMiner]

How do you tell the difference? Just curious.

Natural will have an uneven distribution of pigmination, the side of the bottle facing the soil will have a clear to light pink color while the side that has been facing the sky will be darker. If a bottle is artificially exposed to UV in a controlled environment, like in a tanning bed, it will take on a uniform dark purple color. The only exception I have ever seen to this rule is in clear pre-WWI glass insulators found on telephone poles, these can often stay in direct sunlight on the top of the poll so long that they can become completely dark purple naturally.

 

[Crow]

Well done all! some great information here.

Crow