$30,000 (empty) whiskey bottle

California Clubhouse bourbon, 1872-74It’s a rare a California Clubhouse Whiskey Bottle from the early 1870’s. The company only produced its bourbon for 2 years, so there are few whole bottles left. Only 9 are known to exist, and this is the first one to sell at auction.

They’re treasured by Westerniana collectors as well as bottle collectors, because they were a high-end whiskey from the era of Deadwood and John Wayne. It’s also famous for its intricate embossing, very desirable from a collector’s perspective.

This bottle just sold for a bid of $27,000. That’s $30,240 once you add the 12% buyers premium. See a video describing it in more detail here.

Minnow trap bottle, turn of the 19th c.I didn’t look through the whole catalogue, but almost all of the items I saw on several pages sold for a few tens or hundreds of dollars, so the California Clubhouse bottle is a major stand-out.

This turn of the century minnow trap sold for $180. You put in a river and it traps the fishies. Clever design, isn’t it?