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My son used to collect cans and he left boxes and boxes of them in the garage. There are all kinds including the can opener type and cone tops. Are these valuable?Beer can collecting was very popular back in the mid 1970's especially with our country celebrating its Bicentennial. Many breweries put out commemorative cans and people were collecting them like they collected bubblegum cards in the 90's. Today practically all of those cans are valueless because so many were produced and saved. The cans from a generation earlier could be valuable and they are most often denoted by having a cone top or a flat top. A flat top with any type of pull tab is worthless. A flat top that required a 'church key' opener may have value and you should contact me here to discuss its value. Many people misidentify pull ring cans for can opener or conetop opened cans. Cone top and Flat Top cans stopped being produced in the mid 1960's. After that, pull ring cans replaced them. Back to Top
I have a Billy Beer can. Is that rare and valuable?No, not at all.This and many other commemorative cans were produced in the late 70's and into the 80's including JR's Beer, MASH 4077, World's Fair Beer, and Old Frosthingslosh Beer (with the fat lady on the label.) They have a novelty value but are absolutely not rare and thousands and perhaps millions still exist today.Back to Top
Do you collect soda cans or other breweriana like trays, tap knobs or beer signs?I actually only collect beer cans but would be willing to assist you to sell your items. While I may not collect everything, I do know of others that focus on different facets of breweriana, and I would be happy to assist you in finding the right person who would be interested in what you have.Back to Top
I found a beer can, but it is much bigger than a normal can. It could hold maybe a Quart. Are you interested in those? A number of breweries produced beer in Quart sized cans. These are definitely a can I would like to see and discuss. Either call me or use the 'Contact Greg' form to reach me. If you use the form, you can send a picture of the can and I can tell immediately if it has value.
Humidity spots are permanent blemishes most commonly found on cans with a highly metallic paint. Where as rust forms on the seams and rims of unprotected beer cans, humidity spots appear on the paint itself, creating dark spots that penetrate the paint and start eating into the metal itself.
How can I preserve my beer cans? If you want to protect your investment and keep your beer cans from slowly and perhaps almost imperceptibly deteriorating there are several things that can be done. First, wash your cans with a non abrasive detergent. I prefer Turtle Wax's liquid wash/shampoo/wax for cars. I mix this with water and use a soft bristled kitchen dish brush to remove dirt, grime, dust, etc. I then run water through the can to remove any residue or debris from inside the can. After thoroughly drying the can, I then wax and buff it. I recommend using a pure carnauba wax with no additives. Kit Car Wax in paste form is a good choice. After applying the wax, remove it with a wax rag, then use a buffing rag to finish the process. When this is done, the can is ready to be displayed on a shelf. Make sure you have nothing on the floor beneath the shelves, especially other cans or anything sharp that would irreparably damage your cans if they fell or dropped from your hand. Other ideas... Use a de-humidifier to keep your beer cans protected from moist air. I do. All my cans are stored in a climate controlled room. The de-humidifier will extract between a quart and half gallon of water each day. Also, do not allow your cans to be exposed to smoke or direct sunlight. Cigarette smoke will permanently yellow beer cans and sunlight will fade the paint. The results are irreversible and will greatly reduce the value of the cans . When dealing with rust on a seam or lid, I use rubbing compound found in any automotive store. Take a fine kitchen scouring pad and gently rub the affected areas. After rinsing the can is ready to be waxed for further protection. If you are or become a serious collector, you have (or will) spend a lot of money on your hobby. So long as you keep your cans in top condition, you will protect your investment.
A rolled can is a beer can that was not assembled in the brewery's manufacturing plant but rather put together by an individual using beer can 'blanks' that the brewery did not use. Rolled cans do not have the typical three binding notches that are found on the seam of a can that was produced from the brewery's assembly line. Another difference is that , in a rolled can, the seam on the side where the can was rolled together is usually not centered. The top and bottom lids might not match (meaning lids from a different era were used in putting the rolled can together), and since there are no notches along the seam, the seam may seem to appear to be coming apart, buckling or may feel uneven. The value of a rolled can will vary depending on the rarity of the can and the quality of the roll job. Usually these cans are not worth quite as much as an "original". The price of a rolled can usually is anywhere from 25% to 50% less than the street value of an original.
What determines the value of a beer can? Key factors are condition and rarity. As with collecting coins, stamps or baseball cards, the condition of the can makes all the difference in value. If there are very few in circulation, the prices go higher still. Cans from obscure, regional breweries may well command higher values than those from the larger, national breweries. This is simply because fewer cans were produced and fewer are available. Also, cone tops and flat tops are significantly more valuable than pull ring cans. Cone tops and flat tops (flats) were made from the mid 1930's to mid 1960's. Pull rings succeeded them, starting in the early 1960's and are still used today. NOTE: Pull ring cans in the James Bond 007 set or the Playmate cans DO command high prices, but in general, the pull rings are not very valuable... even if they are in pristine condition. Make some money! Beer can collecting became very popular in the 1970's and thousands of people started collecting them during that period. Today, many of those cans survive in basements, garages and attics. Look around and ask family, friends and neighbors. You COULD be sitting on a fortune!
Is a can worth more if it is full or was opened from the bottom? Most collectors empty full cans when they acquire them because they are afraid that eventually one day the can will leak. If the can is on a shelf you might not notice the leakage for quite a while and during that time the contents will have dripped down onto lower shelves potentially damaging other cans. Therefore, there is no extra value in a full, unopened can. Most collectors are not concerned with how or where a can was opened. Some collectors of pull tabs cans DO prefer that the can be opened from the bottom, but it really doesn't affect the value.
There are some people who repair beer cans but in my opinion there is only one person I trust to work on my cans. Dr. Keith Norton is about the best there is. Dr. Keith lives in the Boston area and has been doing beer can repair for more than a decade. There is no one in the hobby who can match his enthusiasm, competence, devotion, creativity or concern when it comes to repairing a beer can. Dr. Keith innovated the technique of removing a dent while still being able to reuse the original lid. Whether the can has a dent, crease, teeth marks or even a hole, if the can is worth fixing, Keith is the best in the business. He handles some of the rarest cans ever made and does impeccable work. He can be reached at: 978-657-5883.
What about restoring beer cans? There is no universal principle that all collectors adhere to regarding this subject; however, I do believe there are common sense rules that govern how serious collectors collect beer cans. Basically, ANY touching up, repainting or air brushing of a beer significantly reduces its value in the much same way it would if you did this to a baseball card or a rare coin. Decades ago, early collectors found rare cans in dumps and they retouched or repainted them before putting them on their shelves. Since the cans were of little value in the first place and because their hand painted touch ups were so obvious to anyone looking at the can, the practice was quite harmless. Unfortunately, through the marvels of technology and human greed, it is now possible to make severely damaged cans look like new by professionally air brushing the paint to remove cover rust, humidity spotting and blemishes. A final thin coat of lacquer even makes the can sparkle. I believe having cans professionally retouched and repainted is a crime against the hobby as well as against fellow collectors. People who do this are injecting counterfeit product onto our hobby. Further, these professionally retouched cans do NOT contain a label or notice indicating that these cans have been altered. Ultimately, these cans circulate to unsuspecting collectors who pay top dollar thinking they are buying something that is truly rare. Ultimately, they have a fake that is worth pennies on the dollar to a knowledgeable collector. Let's say there are only one or two known examples of a specific can in very good original condition. The value of that rare can is directly proportionate to its scarcity and condition. If several more 'restored' cans suddenly show up on the market, the value of the REAL rare cans will reduced. Although these 'restored' cans can be caught using a black light, inexperienced collectors can easily get burned. To me, this is nothing more than fraud. I am collector, not a political activist. However, I find this practice of retouching cans very disturbing. People work hard to pay for and find new cans which become treasures on their shelves. When they realize some years later that they have a professionally repainted or retouched can in their collection AND that they overpaid for it... they feel angry for having been taken advantage of. Some may even leave the hobby. While there is no 'collectors code of ethics' or professional grading service such as exists baseball card collecting, It is my opinion that people who sell professionally retouched cans should be boycotted until they take responsibility by engraving a large "R" on the bottom lid to tell all collectors that that can was retouched and is consequently worth less than the original can in the same condition. Note: Do not confuse this practice with repairs such as dent removal which are legitimate and which do NOT affect the value of a vintage beer can.
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