Beer Can Collecting

The St. Louis Globe Democrat ran an article on October 20, 1969 about a man named Denver Wright Jr. who collected beer cans and was local to the area. When six other St. Louis collectors read the article they realized that they were not the only ones that were interest in beer cans. One of those collectors was Larry Wright, the brother of Denver Wright Jr. After the seven collectors began to visit each others’ homes and viewing their collections, they decided to form an organized club. They were hoping that people with the same interest would want to join the club. The Beer Can Collectors of America was then founded on April 15, 1970.

There are many factors that come into play when a collector decides to sell his cans and has to assess the value of them. It’s obvious to the collector that the rare cans are in small supply and that this makes them more valuable than the common cans that are in large supply. Demands are high for a flat top can, a container that was produced in 1935 by the American Can Company. Another sought after can was known as a cone top can, this can was marketed by the Continental Can Company and was available around 1936. In determining the value of a collection of cans, the condition is very important. According to the Beer Can Collectors of America, cans are graded from 1+, which is for mint condition, to a 5, which is very rusty, scratched, faded, dented and/or full of holes.

 The internet has made the hobby of collecting beer cans a great success. Anyone with an interest in buying, selling or just collecting them for fun, can connect with others any where in the world who shares the same passion of collecting old or new beer cans.


(Thanks to Todays Country Recipes for sharing this article.)