Collections/Items We've Handled

Collections/Items We've Handled

Breweriana.com has had the honor of buying and selling the finest beer cans and collections in the hobby. Below we show some of the more significant collections/items we've brought to happy customers over the past several years.

The Chick Runge (one of the coolest cats in the hobby) Collection had about 2000 top grade and rare (many unique) cans and walls of very fine brewery signs and trays. 

The David and Jane Stark collection from just outside of Chicago, Illinois in 2007. This collection, assembled over 35 years, is the most advanced beer can collection ever to hit the market. It featured the rarest and highest condition cans known in the hobby. The banner below shows a small sampling of some of the wonderful cans in this collection.

The Rob Skalla collection out of Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2008. Rob collected top condition cans from all around the country, and was strongest in set cans, Michigan cans, and cans from Pacific Brewing in Oakland, California. Below are a few examples of some of the exceptional cans, including the 8oz Buccaneeer Stout, Glacier Beer annd Hollywood Ranch Market cans from Pacific Brewing, the finest Boston Light Ale J-Spout known, the best known Hop Gold Ye Old English Ale instructional, and one of very few clean Horluck's Vienna Export Beer instructionals.

In 2006, Breweriana.com purchased the Rick Poore Croft and Wehle beer can collection out of Standish, Maine. Rick was very pleased with the sale and in May, 2008, Rick sold his Narragansett collection to Breweriana.com. This was one of the most advanced Narragansett collections ever assembled. This collection featured some of the highest grade known examples of Narragansett cans as well as many rare pieces of Narragansett beer advertising. Below are some photos of this collection which included the Williams Purple Cow zip top, the rare Narragansett Light Ale flat top, a best known Narragansett Gold Label variation, a rare tin Narragansett sign, and a rare Narragansett factory scene lithograph in original frame.

In 2007, Breweriana.com purchased the McCoy Flat Bottom Inverted Rib and other Cone Tops collection outside of Indianapolis, Indiana. This likely was the most complete set of FBIR cones ever assembled. Among the better cans in this collection were the unique Schlitz FBIR, the "Valentines" Kato FBIR, the Gretz Beer and Souther Select J-Spouts and others (shown below).

In January, 2007, Breweriana.com purchased the Kevin Lilek instructional beer can collection out of Aurora, Illionois. This collection featured many rare flat tops with opening instructions, including an extensive collection of Krueger beer cans. The very rare, pre-tax Krueger Ale & Beer baldy set (the first set of beer cans distributed in the US) was in this collection.

Another interesting acquisition by Breweriana.com was a find of beer cans out of a Long Island, NY bar that was auctioned in March, 2008 by the Cyr auction in Gray, Maine. The Cyr auction contacted as many beer can dealers as it could find on the internet and heavily advertised this find of cans. A large group of the internet can dealers joined forces and placed a combined bid. Breweriana.com bid alone and won this group of cans for $126,000.

Ruppert Bock instructionals, a Poth's Beer instructional, a Schultz Light Beer and a Krueger's Bock Beer were among the better cans in this group. The author put two of these cans (the best Ruppert Bock and the Poth's Beer) in his collection and was happy to come a little shy of breaking even on the investment with the rest of the cans.

The Kates beer can collection out of Dayton, Ohio was purchased by Breweriana.com in July of 2007. This was a leading collection of beer cans from Ohio breweries. Among the better cans in this collection were a unique variation of the Clipper cone top and one of the three known quality examples of the woodgrain Waldorf Samson Ale.

We also buy collections of Breweriana, such as the King collection from near Boston, Massachusetts, purchased in April, 2007. This collection featured many one-of-a-kind pieces of breweriana, mostly from Massachusetts breweries. The William Smith & Sons factory scene to the right is unique. It features scenes of both the Elmwood Spring and Revere Breweries in Boston. The Roessle Brewing scene to the right also is unique.

Other significant pieces from the King collection are shown below. From left to right, they include a unique A.G. Van Nostrand Bunker Hill Breweries brass sign, a unqiue J. Oscar Kent brewery scene, a best-known Red Fox Ale pre-prohibition, celluloid over cardboard sign, and a rare and minty, pre-prohibition, porcelain Reliance Ale sign from the Boston Beer Co. All of the King items shown above and below remain in the author's private collection.

Breweriana.com purchased the Bussey Rhode Island beer can (and much of the Bussey RI breweriana) collection out of Lincoln, Nebraska in November of 2007. This collection included many top examples of cans from Rhode Island breweries. Shown below is the best known example of the ultra-rare Narragansett Beer instructional which completed a set in the author's collection and a couple of Narragansett pre-prohibiiton trays that are extremely rare in top condition.

We purchased the Raimondi breweriana collection in August of 2006 and the Raimondi beer can collection in February of 2007. The Baltimore, MD area collection was strongest in Baltimore brewery cans and breweriana.

The rare standing Goat flat top pictured to the left was among the many great cans in this collection.

The rare Fred. Bauernschmidt American Brewery factory scene tray also was in this collection.

As time permits, we will add details of other collections Breweriana.com has bought over the years. Among these collections are the Babchuck cone top collection, the Amideo Ballantine and Ruppert can collections, the DeRiggi can collection, the Flask can collection, the Kretschmer beer can and breweriana collection, the Pescaro Harvard collection, the Shattuck New England beer can collection, the West New England collection, the Chandler RI collection, a Cleveland, Ohio estate can collection, the Schulze beer can collection in Deleware, the Small collection in Connecticut, and the Wicker Beverwyck collection.

In addition to buying large collections, Breweriana.com has purchased many individual and small groups of cans that have turned up in all sorts of interesting places over the years. The Log Cabin flat tops to the left turned up during renovations of a home in California. There were a total of five of these cans. The owner of these cans researched and shopped around for the highest bidder for over a year before selling these to Breweriana.com.

In 2006, an estate hired an antiques appraiser to price the contents of a home and sell them in an estate sale. After the close of the sale, the estate hired a company to throw away the remaining contents and clean the house. One cleaner was given permission to keep the case of Cremo Ale cans shown to the right. The owner of these cans contacted the dealers and collectors he could find with his internet search and sold them to Breweriana.com for its high bid of just under $40,000.

Please check this article out again...we have dozens more collections/finds to include in this story and will do so as time permits...