Of all the weird little corners of the world (and on the World Wide Web), one that people in the world of wine and beer ought to learn something about is the world of wine and beer collectibles.
Bottles and steins
In wine collectibles there are many different items that collectors amass. Least of all is wine bottles. According the Guinness Book of World Records, the most expensive bottle of wine is the bottle of 1787 Chateau Lafite that was once owned by Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, currently valued at $160,000.
However, other sources claim that bottles of 1907 Heidsieck recovered from a shipwreck off the coast of Finland are valued at $275,000. These were in transit to the Russian Imperial family when they were lost at sea; their age and their back story make them highly coveted.
Beer steins , are also coveted by many collectors. Many of the rarest beer steins are the original Bavarian German beer steins from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Extremely fortunate collectors might possess beer steins from their very earliest era, the fifteenth or sixteenth century.
Corkscrews and openers
Perhaps the oddest little corner is collectible openers.
There are many rare and valuable corkscrews. Some of the rare and fascinating corkscrews you can find include one shaped like a two headed Viking ship or the Thomson King’s Screw Narrow Rack. The most expensive corkscrew you can buy is the Sveid corkscrew, featuring a fingertip lever in 18 carat gold or platinum and gold hinges optional. The suggested price range for this is somewhere near $70,000 USD.
The world’s largest collection of bottle openers is owned by John Stanley; Stanley shares his passion of beer bottle openers on just-for-openers.com. His collector’s club has over 250 members worldwide. Their collections include the highly prized flat figurals which come in a variety of shapes and were first produced during the prohibition era. The Chicago company Vaughn has produced many of the world’s most collectible bottle openers. If you are extremely lucky you might come across some of the very first openers which date back to 1894, when bottling was first done and the bottle opener was patented.
Author:
Jim Huinink is the owner of beerclassifieds.com a website where you can find a wide variety of beer collectibles including beer steins , bar signs and much more.
