Vintage/Antique Medicine Bottles

[Thrifty Threadz]

I have looked on eBay for comparables for the 3 bottles pictured below.  Some sell for quite a lot, but I can't make out what makes them more or less valuable.  If anyone can give me some indication of their importance or value, I would really appreciate it.  I'm just interested in getting a fair price for them.
Details about them, include:
Triturate-Calumel and Sodium Bicarb by John Wyeth & Bro. Inc. Philadelphia;
Empty bottle is actually imprinted on the bottom with Wiggins, Drawing Ink and has a stopper that says Purex on top of it;
Papayotin by The Abbott Alk. Co., Chicago (tiny brown pellets)
Thanks!

[greenacres]

Nice little bottles. There is an Antique Bottle Forum. There's also Diggs. I will check for you. The most valuable bottles are the colors. Medicines that come greens and blues and amber. I have many books on bottles. I have a large collection. I will go and check.

[greenacres]

The Wythe and Bros. is worth $2-$4 dollars. If you had the cornflower blue bottle, which is a lot larger, it would have been worth $179.00 I'm still checking the rest.

[greenacres]

Are you sure it's not Higgins and not Wiggins. There is a Higgins Drawing ink. That's also about $5-$7 dollars.

[mart]

Any value here is not in the bottles themselves,,(i have dug hundreds of similar bottles) but it would be  that they are intact with the labels and the medicines !! Papayotin was used in the treatment of diptheria and croup late 1800`s early 1900`s !! There were no pharmacists to speak of then and this could have just as easily came from the general store as the doctor !! Even though its purity is often questionable and I sure would not want to use it in any way,, it should be relatively harmess and is a form of papain !! Same stuff that meat tenderizer is made of !!  Many pharmacists today collect these and you should find a ready market. Haven`t checked the other one yet !!  I do not think that stopper goes with that ink bottle !!  It goes with a brown jug type purex bleach bottle !! That ink would have a smaller squat type cork !!
Value on these would be $10. to $25. for all three !!

[greenacres]

The Abbot bottle is worth $1-$2 dollars.

[greenacres]

I just go by what the book tells me. They are in excellant condition. I also had some beautiful bottles, but I had a major bottle collector look at my bottles. He told I have great bottles, but collectors are really looking for colors. Medicine bottles are highly collectible. I have many that are a lot older than these. I'm sure there are plenty on eBay. Maybe some would pay $10.00 for the three. My estimate is not far off.

[greenacres]

I had this on my computer already. I have better than this, It's about six in. This is an older bottle from Phila.

[mart]

Your values are about right for the bottles alone !! But like I said,, there is more of a market and a little higher value when the labels/contents are still there and in as good a condition as these are !!  Almost every pharmacist in our town has a collection of old medicine bottles !!  Its just a better market !!

[CuriousCollector]

I would be VERY careful with contents.  The old patent nostrums often contained materials which are now tightly controlled and illegal for regular persons to sell -- cocaine, morphine, etc.

[greenacres]

I like the old Apothacary bottles. In Philadeplia there are very few old grug stores like that. This collector is a lawyer on the zoning board. His dug every main privy in the entire area. He has the maps and connections. Now he has a collection.

[mart]

My collection of indian artifacts and bottles went in a divorce over 30 years ago !! All of mine were dug or found bottles !! I knew where the old dump was for our town that dated back to the 1870`s !! Can`t do that now but had a blast back then !!  Most bottles are not worth that much but found a few that were pretty good!!

[greenacres]

My husband does a lot of construction in Old City Philadelphia. He brings them home. When he digs they are like buried treasure. His had some amazing experiences. His best find was when he was building new houses in Manyunk. This is on the delaware river where most bottles were made and where Black Beard had supposedly party. He hit a landfill from the 17-1800's. He would bring spackle buckets full of them. The ones that got broken were heart breaking. He would tell me he couldn't help it. This was when the real estate market took a nose dive. I think the only profit we made were the bottles, lol

[mart]

I would have loved to hit a site like that !!

[greenacres]

I was scrubbing everyday. You should have seen my hands, lol