Collecting vintage Coca-Cola bottles is a more popular hobby than you might expect. The company says it probably fields more questions about its bottles than any other subject. It makes sense when you think about it. Long after the drink is gone, the bottles remain, and Coca-Cola has made more bottles than you could imagine. It started selling the soda in glass bottles back in 1894. By 1959, it was already producing 500 million per year. Even though many have been lost over time, some of those that are left are worth a lot of money, even into six figures.
If you’re interested in the hobby as an investment rather than for the history, collecting vintage Coke bottles can be a double-edged sword. A bottle that’s over 100 years old seems like it might be a significant find, but don’t forget those production numbers. Coca-Cola was manufacturing these in the millions, so even today, a bottle from 1916 might only be worth $6. The investment comes from finding the right bottle. Ideally, you want ones from before Coke was a worldwide phenomenon, and what we think is still the best of all the popular colas on the market.
If you check out vintage Coke bottles on eBay, you can find listings that range from a few dollars all the way up to several thousand. Some listings even go into the tens of thousands. Obviously, you’ll want to confirm the authenticity, but it does go to show that these prices aren’t unusual, as there are multiple examples.
How valuable do Coke bottles get?
Before Coca-Cola had consistent bottling, it was bottled by candy store-owner Joseph A. Biedenharn, who used Hutchinson bottles, named for their resealable top. These bottles, used from the 1890s and early into the next century, can go for as much as $4,000. A pair of brothers from Chattanooga had bottling rights elsewhere around the same time and used simple, straight-sided bottles. These bottles are all well over 100 years old now, and finding one in good condition is rare. That’s why they can sell for as much as $1,500.
International Coke bottles can also be valuable. Coca-Cola is available in all but two countries today. The company made regional designs and sometimes unique flavors, meaning many people outside of their countries of origin never saw them. An unopened Coke bottle from a McDonald’s in Beijing sold on eBay for $1,100 in 2023.
The most valuable Coke bottle ever sold was a rare prototype designed by Earl R. Dean. The bottle was made in 1915 after the Coca-Cola company wanted to change the straight-sided bottles it used to something unique. That was just one of the fascinating facts about Coca-Cola we covered here. Dean’s design, with some tweaks, became the iconic curvy Coke bottle known around the world. The prototype, along with a sketch of the design, sold at auction in 2011 for $240,000.
