Last Updated 04 October 2008
BEER CANS WANTED!!!
Hello! Have you come across any old beer cans?
Do you have Uncle Joe's old collection? I'd be happy to help those little
cylindrical metal containers find a good home. My name is Brian and I have been
collecting beer cans since 1977. I am a member of the BCCA (Brewery Collectibles
Club of America) and several local beer can collecting clubs including the A1
chapter in Arizona. I would like to purchase or trade for cans that I
need.
A
Brief history of Beer cans
The first canned beer was sold in 1935. The
original cans were FLAT TOP cans. They required a can opener to punch a hole in
the top. The first few years that beer was canned the cans had OPENING
INSTRUCTIONS (OI) on the side. Shortly after the introduction of flat top cans,
a second type of can was introduced which had a cone shaped top and was sealed
with a bottle cap. These CONE TOP cans were in use from the 1930's until the
1950's and overlapped flat top cans. All beer cans prior to 1950 have the line
"Internal Revenue Tax Paid", somewhere on the can. Cone top cans and Opening
Instruction cans in good condition are difficult to come by these days. Flat top
cans were made until the mid 1960's. The TAB TOP was introduced in 1962 by
Pittsburgh Brewing Company on it's Iron City Beer. Aluminum cans were first
introduced by Adolph Coors in 1959. These first aluminum cans were flat top cans
and had to be opened with an opener. Some early tab top cans are scarce. Beer
can collecting as a hobby was recognized and started to become popular in the
early 1970's. The BCCA (Brewery Collectors Club of America) was founded in 1970.
As a general rule beer cans from the mid 1970's and more recently are quite
common and have little value to collectors. BILLY BEER cans are NOT rare! The
stay tab or ecology top, in which the tab stays with the can was first
introduced by Falls City beer in the mid 1970's. Steel cans were replaced by
aluminum cans during the 1970's. In 1991 the government health warning was added
to all beer cans.
