Coca Cola Can Collecting

Collecting Coke Memorabilia, and in particular, Coke cans is very popular with collectors. The main reason is the wide variety of cans on the market, and the designs of many cans. They are small works of art, designed to catch your eye in a corner shop. While the product doesn't change much from country to country (except the water), the technology that produce the cans and fill those cans is different in many countries. Size also changes, with some warmer countries offering large cans in some areas, while on airlines much smaller cans may be used. This makes it much more interesting.

Cans are ideal for collectors. Many countries have produced sets of cans, which collectors love. At first its daunting trying to get the cans/sets that you like. My first bit of advice is that you must get to know the harder to find sets. Opportunities come along all the time, but if you don't know how valuable some cans are, you will never build your collection into something truly great! It sounds like a huge job, but with the help of clubs like the Coca Cola Collectors Club International, and of course watching ebay auctions, you will soon see a pattern of selling and the values of those sold.

Just because a can looks good doesn't mean its valuable. Before you buy, research. Many collectors actually have descriptions of cans in their websites. Use GOOGLE, find can collectors, use their links to their trading partners. Find collectors with extensive archives of cans, and learn. If you want to collect cans, which I have for 18 years, you must know your product. After surfing on many websites, you will notice that collectors collections start to look the same. See what they have, what they class as their prized objects, and remember them. Not everyone selling cans has a huge knowledge of cans, so there are real treasures out there, at a price you can afford.

The value of the cans has many factors involved. First of all the number produced must be taken into consideration. A limited run of cans, (like a can I got the other day commemorating a wedding, only 240 were made), makes the can highly desireable, but thats not the only factor to consider.

The condition of the can is also very important. I have seen diamond cans in mint condition usually get around US $100 on ebay, but rusted and dented cans of exactly the same type may get $10 or even no bids. BE VERY SELECTIVE. Look for quality. Find mint cans. Obviously they may cost more, but cans that have started to rust may keep on rusting in the wrong conditions.

How old is the can? Even if the can had 10 million made, say 25 years ago, most of them would of been used as land fill. So again, value is determined also on age. Cans have many clues to their age. Check the date stamp. If you don't know what the numbers mean, ask your local canner, or find out again from collector sites.

Have a look at the Coca Cola logo. Depending on where you lived in the world, the logo changed around 1986/87. The old logo had the dynamic ribbon under it, until it was changed to go through the logo. That gives you a clue, but also look at the ring pulls on top. The technology was uniform in most countries, so you can date from other cans that may have dates.

Is the can full, air filled or openned somewhere. I say somewhere because it is desireable to have the ring pull still un-used. Some collectors put a small hole under the ring pull, through the can, and drain. The cans look great, as if un-openned. Others drain from the bottom by punching two holes in the underneath of the can. Whenever possible, if you must empty a can, make it so the ringpull is un-used. The value is more for these cans, as they look un-used.

If you decide to collect full cans, please consider a few negatives. Old cans will rust, leak and I have heard stories of cans exploding. Have not seen that, though. Cans are not made to keep the contents long term. Aluminium cans will leak. I have seen it many times in my shed. The cost of mailing full cans is huge. For the price of sending 1-2 full cans overseas, you can send 24 empty ones, even more. In my opinion, its not worth it.

I mentioned how daunting can collecting can be. There are so many different cans out there. You will never get every can, so don't try. You will become very poor and frustrated if you go after everything you see. Get cans that you like. My main problem is that I have over 3000 different Coca Cola cans, and will never have the room to display them all. It will happen to you too. Buy the ones you like. They are small works of art, so get the ones you want to look at.

Keep in mind that with collecting comes cross collecting. No, you blokes don't have to wear a dress! Some cans have value to not only coke collectors, but other collectors. For example, a Coca Cola can promoting the NBL and using a Disney Character as the mascot would be very desireable to collectors of cans, Coca Cola, Basketball memorabilia and Disney memorabilia. More people wanting that can means more demand, thus higher value. Something to consider.

Finally, and this counts for collecting anything, get things you like. Don't just get everything that says Coke. If you don't like it, you will end up with a room full of stuff that isnt fun to look at.

Happy collecting, and remember BE VERY SELECTIVE!IF YOU FOUND THIS GUIDE USEFUL, PLEASE LET ME KNOW BY VOTING... ITS ALL THE APPRECIATION I WANT.. AND THANK YOU!

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Orignal From: Coca Cola Can Collecting