Are 60 yr old carboys worth anything? "CRISA 1942"

GooBrew · 12-27-2008, 09:29 PM

So My GF's best friend let us have a 5 gal. carboy today. Her grandfather had passed away and she had taken it from his estate when they were cleaning out his things. She has since moved to Hawaii and it has been siting at her parents house ever since.

It is stamped with "CRISA 18.9 ltrs 1942 MADE IN MEXICO" on the bottom. You can also see the mold marks in the glass from teh factory. Something that isnt on any of our modern 6.5 gallon carboys.

I was just wondering if it would be a better decision to leave this one empty for display if its worth anything. Not really sure if there is a collectors market for old carboys.

Thanks.

**Moonshae** · 12-27-2008, 09:32 PM

As long as they aren't cracked and can be cleaned, go for it. If it looks like he was storing something nasty in them, you might want to pass on them, though.

GooBrew · 12-27-2008, 09:38 PM

Its clean, just had change in it for the last 20 years.
$73 dollars worth to be exact but we gave that back to my GFs friend lol.

**Revvy** · 12-27-2008, 09:45 PM

If you wanted to use glass, then I would almost trust that old bugger more than most of the newer carboys made today...if not then yeah use it for display...

Zymurgrafi · 12-27-2008, 09:57 PM

If he had coins in it I would inspect it closely for scratches and nicks. Glass is a lot harder to scratch than plastic but metal coins could do it. Even glass could potentially harbor bacteria in small scratches. I may be in the minority here on that regard. I expect I will get blasted for my comments but hey, I am paranoid when it comes to my own beer. What you do with yours is up to you.

**Revvy** · 12-27-2008, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zymurgrafi

If he had coins in it I would inspect it closely for scratches and nicks. Glass is a lot harder to scratch than plastic but metal coins could do it. Even glass could potentially harbor bacteria in small scratches. I may be in the minority here on that regard. I expect I will get blasted for my comments but hey, I am paranoid when it comes to my own beer. What you do with yours is up to you.

I agree totally!!!

GooBrew · 12-27-2008, 10:49 PM

Just inspected it on my lunch break at work, it just appears to be dusty from setting around for 40 years. No odor or anything coming from it. I was warned to not use it to store coins, I guess there were several other carboys found in the guys house with about 4 inches of coins in them, When picked up they all broke. Except for the one I have which was saved.

I just wasnt sure if the carboy was worth money to someone looking for old glasswares. I would rather use it to ferment wine, but if its worth money I would sell it to buy a few modern carboys.

Glubki · 12-27-2008, 11:15 PM

I picked up a bottle capper at the Brass Armadillo (antique mall) in Denver a couple of months ago and there were 3-4 old glass carboys ranging from $50 to $125. One of them was a really old wine bottle and that was going for $125. Take it for what it's worth though - the antique dealers always add a 40 to 60% markup looking for a collector or a sucker....

sigmund · 12-28-2008, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zymurgrafi

If he had coins in it I would inspect it closely for scratches and nicks. Glass is a lot harder to scratch than plastic but metal coins could do it. Even glass could potentially harbor bacteria in small scratches. I may be in the minority here on that regard. I expect I will get blasted for my comments but hey, I am paranoid when it comes to my own beer. What you do with yours is up to you.

If the previous owner had continually dumped change in and out of the carboy, scratching might be a concern, but that's not usually the case. Most coins have so much copper in them, they probably are fine. Regardless, a good long soak in PBW or Oxyclean is in order to get all the accumulated nasties out of them.