American Bottle Auction #44

Conditions of Sale: When the auction begins, you can view all the items being offered in our full-color online catalog or online at http://www.americanbottle.com and bid by computer, phone, mail, fax or carrier pigeon. You can also view bottles in our showroom, we just ask you to call ahead to make sure we are here. Usual absentee auction rules apply. No items will be mailed before full payment is received. Auction closes for each lot, individually, or until there are no bids on that particular lot for 10 minutes. Call for more details.

Return Policy: American Bottle Auctions guarantees that any bottle we sell is what we say it is. Every effort will be made to depict the bottle as near to the true condition as possible. If for some reason an item is inaccurately described, it may be returned within three days following the receipt of the bottle for a full refund including postage and insurance. Please notify us before returning a bottle. We will not refund a bottle due to minor manufacturer.s flaws not described in the auction description and not detracting from the value of a bottle e.g. globs of glass, slightly offset base. Any invoice paid seven days after receipt, as stated on the invoice, will void the return policy unless it has been discussed with the auction.

Bidding: You can call anytime up to closing time and find out what the current bid is. You can also give a .top bid.; meaning that is the limit you will go. If you have a .top bid. of $350.00, for example, and nobody else wants to pay more than $250.00, the item will go for $275.00 plus the 12% buyers premium. We will not disclose the amount of the .top bids. or number of bidders at any time during the auction. Bids not in correct raise amounts will be rounded down.

Callbacks: There are NO CALLBACKS FOR ANY BID LESS THAN $3,000. American Bottle Auctions will make every attempt to reach a bidder if they have made a bid that qualifies them for a callback. Every attempt means that we will call you at home, work and on your cell assuming you've left the appropriate numbers. We will do everything in our power to contact you but you must also try and get hold of us. We will not hold up any auction over a person who simply isn't paying attention or doesn't have the interest to contact us and see if they are wining a particular lot. This rule will be strictly enforced and if by the time callbacks are ending and we've made every effort to contact you and you've make no effort to contact us we will "call" or end the auction at that point. It is not fair to bidders who are actively trying to buy a bottle during the callback period. If they can make an effort to call us than the same goes for everyone. As for a time limit, there is none. In other words, the auction ends when the callbacks end. Callbacks are as much your responsibility as ours. We will email any person with a bid and let them know callbacks are going to end soon. We can also email you and let you know if you are not the current bidder. We recommend you check your bid page often during the auction and callbacks.

Non-payers: Any winning bidder who does not honor their bids, that is to say, does not pay for their winning lot(s), will be disqualified from bidding in any further auctions. American Bottle Auctions reserves the right to disallow anyone from bidding or participating in the auction. If you need more time to make a payment, please let us know in advance. If you need more time in paying for items you.ve won, we will work with you as long as we are notified in advance.

Reserves: There are no reserves for this auction.

Buyer's Premium: There is a 12% buyer's premium on any item you purchase. This amount will be in addition to the purchase price of an item.

Terms: Full payment is required within 7 days of the receipt of the invoice. A 7.75% sales tax is required for California residents, unless they have a resale permit and submit a signed card. Shipping and insurance via either U.S. mail or UPS will be added to the total. Everyone is invited to view the items in the auction during normal business hours with an appointment. Bids below the printed minimum will not be accepted.

Visa, MasterCard or American Express: American Bottle Auctions accepts any of these credit cards for faster and easier payment at no extra cost.

American Bottle Auctions has recently revised their bottle grading system. The name of the condition of a bottle for example, About Mint, will remain the same, however we now have a more defined definition of the particular condition and a grade number associated with it. A bottle using our system has a named condition like Near Mint, but it also has a grade number, anywhere from one to ten. Certain grade names have limits on their grade number. For instance, a Near Mint bottle can only be a 6 or 7 or even a 6.5. An About Mint bottle can only be a 7 or 8, or even an 8.5. The top bottle is Attic Mint, which grades a 10.

The grading system is a difficult one because of a number of factors. A bottle may be in perfect condition but have a weak strike or no whittle. Some bottles just don't come with whittle or rarely stray from the same color. A slightly chipped bottle can have tons of whittle and a great strike but the chip really hurts it. Damage on bottles is deadly. A $10,000 bitters with a chip out of the lip can sell for $3000 or even less. In only the rarest and most desirable of bottles does a bit of damage not affect the value dramatically. The bottle can be professionally repaired, but in some circles repairing a bottle does just that, mark it as a repaired bottle. Just the name repaired draws cringes from experienced collectors. Sometimes a superb condition bottle is a boring color or just plain. We will try and encompass everything about a particular bottle when deciding on a grade. That includes condition, color, crudity, and special features like a drippy top or evidence of extreme crudity. The grade does not take in rarity, which can also affect a bottle price dramatically. Sometimes a bottle has it all, but more likely a bottle is going to have some good characteristics and some not so good. A perfect condition bottle might have absolutely everything going for it but have a tiny flake off the base. In that case we'd say for instance, "tiny flake on base otherwise grades About Mint grade 7." How can a bottle with a flake be About Mint? Well like a baseball card, it might be a perfect 10 grade but be printed off-center. Like the grade of the baseball card, it would be a grade 10 off-center. Without the flake the same bottle might be About Mint grade 8. It's rare that a bottle has it all and you can expect to pay more, sometimes much more than the regular book value or "going rate" of a typical Near Mint condition bottle. We suggest you read the overall description, check out the streaming video and then use the grade name and number. We will discuss as many factors in determining condition in addition to the grade.

Grades

Average (grade 1-4) - Pretty poor to decent condition, scratches, small flakes off the glass, a fair amount of stain; not a great bottle. We rarely sell a bottle in this condition except when they are rare and or have historical or great monetary value. There.s an Average condition grade 5 and an Average grade 2. The difference would be pretty dramatic. An Average grade 5 could be a decent bottle. Sometimes if a bottle is extremely rare, a grade 5 might be the best you.ll find.

Near Mint (grade 5-6) - A very good condition bottle. Besides a couple scratches, a pinhead-sized ding on the base and maybe some minor stain, it is about perfect. It could be a bottle that should or could be cleaned to improve it, and we'll mention that on occasion. Near Mint bottles are generally good clean bottles that don't have any type of chip, crack or radiating potstone. Please note that some bottles, like soda or beer, tend to be in lesser grades due to the amount of original use they had. A Near Mint bottle is a good solid condition bottle.

About Mint (grade 7-8) - At first glance, the bottle appears Mint. Upon fairly close examination there may be a scratch or two, some minor stain or miniscule flaw. About Mint bottles won't exhibit much wear but can have some typical light scratches or minor wear. An About Mint bottle is an extremely good condition bottle that could be very lightly cleaned. As we say, About Mint can fall in between categories. There might be a pretty decent difference between an About Mint 7 and an 8.5.

Mint (grade 9) - Super sparkling, no flaws. A virtually perfect bottle. We rarely call a bottle Mint because if you look hard and long enough, someone is bound to find a flaw of some sort. Mint bottles should be considered top specimens. Bottles in this condition are usually quickly bought up and often the only question is the price.

Attic Mint (grade 10) - Perfect, no cleaning, possibly found in an attic. Possible original label. Undisturbed by time. We virtually never call a bottle Attic Mint unless it's been found in a house or somehow protected by the elements. Attic Mint bottles are usually an absolute top specimen strictly regarding condition. In other words, two bottles that could be considered Attic Mint could vary in crudity and color but as far as condition, they would both be considered equally Attic Mint.