NUMBERS ON THE BOTTOMS OF GLASS BOTTLES. I frequently receive inquiries about the interpretation of various numbers seen on the bases of glass bottles. Collectors and others are interested in understanding what the number markings on the bottoms of glass containers mean. Unfortunately, there is no “one answer fits all” to this question!!
(NOTE: the article on this page is pertaining to GLASS containers, and does not apply to the subject of modern / recent PLASTIC containers, which is an entirely separate field of study, and is discussed on many other websites. The number (within a triangle with rounded corners) found on the bottom of plastic bottles is a code indicating the type of plastic the bottle is made from, and pertains to the subject of recycling) .
Always look very closely over the entire glass bottle or other container to see if there is a logo (emblem, trademark, initials, or just a letter) visible that might be a mark that identifies the actual glass manufacturer. Often, a trademark or other marking is embossed on the very bottom of the bottle, or along the lower “heel” of the bottle.
On many bottles, there is no such mark, with only a number or numbers to be seen. In these cases, the general style, shape, glass color and other characteristics may help narrow down the possible age range of a particular specimen.
A large percentage of bottles are marked with only a number, or numbers, on the base (or the heel), and the truth is that, in many cases, it is very difficult, if not impossible to assign a specific glass manufacturer to a bottle if there is no other information embossed in the glass.
Most commonly, single or double-digit numbers embossed on the bottom of a glass item are mold numbers – those numbers served to identify a particular mold (or mold section/mold cavity in use on an automatic bottle-manufacturing machine).
If several identical glass molds were being used simultaneously, each mold would have been assigned a number (a number between 1 and 10, or 1 and 12, etc). If problems occurred with the finished product, it could be easily ascertained which mold is at fault.
Many, many types of commonly-seen glass products have been marked with these types of mold numbers on the base, including bottles, fruit jars, jugs, flasks, candle holders, candlesticks, ashtrays, canisters, dishes, mugs, sugar bowls, salt and pepper shakers, sugar shakers, syrup pitchers, tumblers, tea glasses, punch cups, etc.
Numbers also serve other purposes, depending on the exact item or container and/or company being discussed. Some numbers are “year/date of manufacture” codes. Some numbers (for instance, 3- or 4-digit numbers on the base of many British bottles) are catalog, inventory, style or design numbers assigned to a particular bottle shape. (Hazel Atlas Glass Company, Anchor Hocking Glass Corporation, Knox Glass Bottle Company and other bottle manufacturers made a wide variety of glass containers with those types of numbers on the base, sometimes a letter/number combination.)
Those numbers would serve to identify a particular bottle style in communications/orders between the glass manufacturer and their customers ……. that is, the companies that ordered the bottles to package its products. Some numbers were factory location codes. (See my page on Owens-Illinois Glass Company, that used, and uses, location codes on many of their bottles).
Many Ball fruit jars (and other brands) carry mold numbers on the base, such as the underlined “2” illustrated here. They identified the particular mold (or “mold cavity” on the jar-making machine). For more information, see my web page on the Ball Perfect Mason jars.
Many Owens-Illinois Glass Company soda bottles, for a period of time, used “G-numbers” on the bottom (numerals before or after a G), which were codes for a specific bottle shape (design), irrespective of the soda brand name or glass color of the bottle.
Large numbers of American-made whiskey and other spirits bottles (dating between 1935 and the 1970s or later) carry a “Liquor Bottle Permit Number” on the base along with a glass manufacturer trademark and a date code. For more information please check out my page here with a list of those liquor bottle permit numbers: Glass Industry Liquor Bottle Permit Numbers .
Here’s my page about the “FEDERAL LAW FORBIDS SALE OR REUSE OF THIS BOTTLE” marking seen on liquor bottles.
Many liquor bottles are seen with “D-numbers” on the bottom which are distillery identification codes. Someone has put together a list of various distiller code numbers and R-numbers (Rectifier numbers) seen on a wide variety of liquor bottles, with some info on attribution. Here is a link to that page, which is a PDF file: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51379b83e4b02119d184b2a2/t/584a336ee4fcb59adb85c48b/1481257838281/User+Permit+numbers.pdf
Date codes are often seen, especially on soda bottles from the 1930s to date, and many of these codes are embossed on the base of the bottle, placed to the right of the glassmaker’s logo. This is true on the products of some manufacturers, but not all.
Most modern glass bottles carry date codes, which are often on the heel of the bottle. These date codes are not always obvious, or easy to distinguish from mold numbers. It also depends on exactly which glass company produced the container, as all firms did not / do not use the same system of markings.
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DOTS or BUMPS around the lower heel of bottles.
In many cases (especially within the last couple of decades), mold data information is now preserved through the use of small embossed “dots”, “bumps” or raised periods arranged horizontally around the lower heel of the container. More information on this invention (which is rather involved!) and how it works can be found by doing an internet search (Google, Bing, Yahoo or other search engine), using the keyword search terms “EP 0256804 B1 ” , “code reader”, and “Emhart”.
Here are a few photos showing typical bottle bases with numbers on the bottoms. There are numerous ways in which the base of a bottle may be marked, but here are some of the more commonly seen “layouts” of the modern era. You can also see several relatively modern bottle bases on my pages about Owens-Illinois Glass Company and Brockway Glass Company.
NOTE: Please click here to go to the alphabetical list of Glass Bottle Marks , this link points to “page one”. If there is an identifiable mark on the bottom of a bottle, the mark might be listed there. These pages list many commonly seen glass makers’ marks such as “B inside a circle”, “Diamond and oval with an I”, “I inside a diamond”, “O in a square”, as well as initials such as “S B & G CO”, “R & CO”, “A B CO”, “F C G CO”, “I. G. CO.” and many others.
Please click here to go to my website HOME (Welcome) page.
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Hi, I found a clear bottle today in some new excavations and on the bottom of the bottle is embossed “A 4 E” then underneath that it has “S 8” or “5 8” its hard to tell, and under that “U G B” which google tells me is “United Glass Bottle” Can anyone tell me how old and where this came from?
I found a an Owens-Illinois clear glass bottle near Burns Oregon that has 4/5 quart repeated four times around the base, a screw top (NO 403 caseal I think), makers mark indicative of post 1929 with a factory code of 20 to the left and a date code of 2 without a conspicuous period and a 3 below the makers mark. So my guess is a 1932 bottle from the Oakland Ca plant. I found a bottle that looks like it in the catalog with a #L4419 or L2212. I cannot figure out what the other numbers on the bottle mean, below the makers mark is 5669-W. Can you shed any light on what this number means?
Found a small cork style lid tinted blue glass bottle, assuming it’s about 4 to 5 inches tall probably 2 1/2 inches wide at the bottom guessing I’m not measuring this with a tape measure but on the bottom it has a diamond embossed in the center bottom with the number 766 in the center of that and also on the edge of the bottom, it looks like a number 10 and then on the side of the bottle underneath where the cork pop rounds out to a flatter area of the length of the bottle it says the number 2 FLD OZ!
If you have any information on this, I would appreciate it. My name is Greg Denton, and I love old things that you can find like this and find out the year the thing was manufactured and who manufactured it to see if it is a good collectible, I have found a few other small bottles like this also here recently in Kentucky of the county of Garrard! I have been finding these every now and then, when Kentucky utilities messes with our power dam, and the water lowers where you can see the mudbanks, and then you can find things like this if you look hard enough, seems to been in here for a while.
I would like to learn more about these type of things. I’m very interested in old bottles and stuff like that and I’ve also found a bunch of old Coke bottles that I would like to know something about even an old Mountain Dew bottle with the old hillbilly on it, and I thinks some Pepsi-Cola glass bottles that I am thinking are some of the first ones made one of them has some old drink still left in it but with the lid on it but it don’t look good I don’t think I would drink it.
I would love to be able to send pictures of the somehow and get help. To know if they should be saved because they are rare and may need donated to museums!
I enjoy finding old things like this and learning about them! I am 45 years old. I run in on an electrical company in Kentucky and born and raised in Lancaster Kentucky and I do a lot of metal detecting and searching like that for old treasures.
It’s fun to find so if there’s a way I can send pictures I would appreciate it. Let me know in my email or something. I’m hoping it’ll come to me quick. Thank you for your time looking at these things and it being a way to find out about all things like this. Thanks again Greg Denton.
Hi there Greg,
Thanks for your interesting post. I totally understand your interest and excitement in finding old artifacts along the riverbanks and lake shores. I can tell you a little about the bottle with the “766 in a diamond” on the bottom. It was made by Illinois Glass Company, of Alton, IL. When you get some free time please check out my webpage about Illinois Glass Co here:
https://glassbottlemarks.com/i-inside-diamond-illinois-glass-company/
That particular bottle was made sometime between 1915 and 1929. The Illinois Glass Company used an “I in a diamond” trademark on many of their bottles, but ALSO used a diamond with a mold design number inside. I have a photo of another example of that same bottle on my webpage! But my bottle is 3 and 1/2 inches tall, so I’m not sure if yours is the same exact size. Many “standard” utility type bottles were made in a range of sizes.
It is a “generic” type of bottle that was most likely used for medicine or some type of liquid product. Because the top is rather wide (not extremely narrow) I think it could have also been used to contain pills (tablets). Illinois Glass made a large variety of bottles of all shapes and sizes, and some would be called “generic” as they were sold to many companies who put a variety of products in them for retail sale.
Many of those kinds of bottles are still considered pretty common and don’t have much monetary value to bottle collectors, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that they were quite old and are considered to be vintage or antique items. The “766” bottle, in my estimation, might be worth a dollar or two, although my site isn’t really intended to be an appraisal site.
Most bottles that are in great demand by collectors will have some type of embossed markings on the front, such as the name of a company, city, state or info of that type on them. But there are a lot of exceptions. There are also many rare bottles that have few or no markings, but are valuable because of being in a rare or unusual color or shape, or for some other reason.
Most Coke and Pepsi bottles have date codes on them, and usually glassmakers’ marks. If you want to email me pics of some of the bottles, my email address is listed near the bottom of my website under “Contact Info”.
Thanks and take care!
David
Hi, I found a six-sided wide mouth bottle about six and a half inches tall with a number 2 inside a circle embossed in the bottom I have no idea what it is.
Hey, thanks for all this great knowledge! Do you or anyone browsing on this site know which manufacturer makes the Balvenie Whisky bottles? The numbers on the bottom of the bottle are “750ml 56mm 3 2163 L1”.
Thank you!
David
Hi David,
I’m not familiar with those bottles but I would assume they have been/are being made by a glass company in the UK. There are quite a few readers who land on this webpage from that area, so maybe someone will know. I assume you do not see any glass manufacturer’s mark or logo anywhere on the bottle? You could also look for possible glassmakers (marks) shown in the Emhart database of worldwide punt marks here: https://emhartglass.com/sites/default/files/publications/2020-10/BR0068%20-%20BEG%20Punt%20Marks%20Guide.pdf
Best regards,
David
Thank you so much for sharing this link. I think this is exactly the information I have been searching for!
Hi David, I recently found a fifth-size bottle in my crawlspace. Clear glass, curved like a hip flask. Art deco design consisting of vertical and horizontal ribs. Curiosity about the “Federal Law Forbids…” statement led me to your excellent website, where I decoded the mfgr # 101 and the OI diamond symbol. One side is embossed with a Washington State Liquor Control Board logo including a profile of George. I assume the “8” to the right of the OI symbol is the date code. Is that likely to be 1938 or could it be any “8” year? I’m also drawing a blank on the Rectifier number, R-366. Any ideas about that?
Thanks – Ray
Hi Ray,
I’m not sure about the date on that bottle but I assume it is either 1938 or 1948. No info on the Rectifier number R-366.
David
Hi David
I have 3 wooden bottle molds with the inscriptions: “H SK-8155-2 1 LT”, “H SK-8750-1 1.3 LT”, & “H SK-8975-3 2.LITRE” All 3 have an identical mark that looks like a mirrored letter J in outline. All inscriptions on base.
Any ideas on their provenance
Regards
Steven
Hi, I have a clear screw top glass bottle with dot pattern before the neck of the bottle (the neck starts at about 10cm) and at the bottom of the bottle. A little bit on the underneath on the outer edge. It has an LS mark in a circle on the underneath as well as the centre underneath having the number 640 and underneath that the number 38. The bottle is about 15cm in height. The embossed numbers and LS mark in the dotted edge is slightly off centre. As there is a clear circle around the edge as well and it’s that circle that is off centre the dotted one seems to have been done beforehand.
The letters and separate numbers are arranged like this at the top middle and bottom centre of the bottle.
LS
640
38
I am finding several different answers about my 1 gallon bottle with markings
D – 1
64 – 62
Do you by chance have a more detailed explanation of where and who made it?
Thank you for your time.
Hi Sidney,
The reason for the different answers might be because the meaning of the pair of two-digit numbers could depend on what type of bottle is being discussed (that is, the intended purpose of the bottle – what kind of product was in it originally). So someone could have misinterpreted the meaning of those numbers.
On many types of bottles made by Owens-Illinois (to name one important glass bottle maker, and the maker of your bottle), a number placed to the left would be a plant location code number, and the number to the right would be the date code.
But your bottle has to be “read” a bit differently, because most liquor bottles, during the 1930s-1970s, had a slightly different numbering “layout”. They were required to have a “liquor bottle permit number” on the left, followed by a “dash” (or a glass manufacturer logo), and then a two-digit year date code on the right.
Since your bottle is marked “D-1”, which is a distiller code number, we can be sure it was intended to contain some kind of liquor. There are many “distiller code numbers” seen on bottles, but here is a webpage someone has posted with a few “D-numbers” listed. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51379b83e4b02119d184b2a2/t/584a336ee4fcb59adb85c48b/1481257838281/User+Permit+numbers.pdf
From the information posted on that page, we see D-1 indicates the distiller was “National Distillers” which marketed Old Crow, Old Taylor, Old Grand Dad, and (I am sure) many other brands of liquor over the years.
Regarding the “64-62” pair of numbers: The “64” is the liquor bottle permit number which was assigned to Owens-Illinois Glass Company, and, in particular, assigned to be used at their main glass plant located at Alton, Illinois. The “62” is definitely a date code, and stands for 1962. Hope this helps!
David
I found a clear bottle /jar with lid. On bottom are the numbers 2 and 4 and 8 in a triangle format with a strange symbol in the center
Dana, I sent you an email. Can you send me pics of the bottle so perhaps I can see if I recognize the “strange symbol” on it.
Thanks, David
Hi David, I was doing some river cleanup in the Loxahatchee River in Jupiter, FL, and found this bottle, was wondering if you could help me figure out when its from, or any more info about it. https://imgur.com/a/Sc96jsD
on the bottom, there are things in the top, left, middle, right, and bottom. left is a square with an L in the left part of the square. right is the number 8. top is 132. bottom is 59. and in the middle is D-23. On the bottle itself there’s the words “ONE PINT” and the federal law forbids standard text at the top. thanks
Hello Andrew,
You have an example of a flat liquor flask made by Lincoln Container Corporation in Lincoln, Illinois. Being amber glass, I would guess it held some brand of whiskey. The “132” is the liquor bottle permit number assigned to that particular glass factory. The factory was actually owned by Obear-Nester Glass Company, based in East Saint Louis, Illinois, although the Lincoln plant operated under it’s own company name with their own mark. Their glass manufacturer’s mark was the “L in a square”. The “59” is a date code for 1959, when the flask was made. The 8 is probably a mold number. D-23 is a distiller identification code, which identified the actual distilling company that produced the liquor. According to this page (link below) that lists some distiller codes, D-23 stood for Hiram Walker. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51379b83e4b02119d184b2a2/t/584a336ee4fcb59adb85c48b/1481257838281/User+Permit+numbers.pdf
Hope this helps!
David
Awesome, thanks!
Hi David,
I recently found a tall, clear glass bottle shaped like General George Washington with “Washington” on the heel and “Applied for 7 Design Pat.” on the bottom. An internet search had it listed as a Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company Vinegar Bottle; but, I cannot find any confirmation other than the one post. Any ideas? I do not know enough to figure out if the markings mean 7th patent or 1927/37, etc.
No other marks visible on bottle other than the cool shape and Washington in an overcoat holding a sword down the front. It appears a cork went into the top of his tri-corner hat. Thank you! Teri
[Readers, I contacted Teri directly and she sent me pics of the bottle. Here is my answer, which I wanted to post on the site, as I felt this bottle was especially interesting, and others might run across other examples of that type of bottle sooner or later]. Hi Teri, thanks for the pictures of the bottle. I did a google search with this exact keyword search: “design pat applied for” washington bottle
I came up with several hits, and got this information: The bottle design was patented in 1936, and evidently was made by Olean Glass Company of Olean, New York.
One listing shows the bottle bearing an original label for a brand of rum.
Here are some pages with mentions of the bottle…….
https://www.antique-bottles.net/threads/washington-figurine-bottle.303953/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/206954545359623153/
https://utdr.utoledo.edu/islandora/object/utoledo:3166
By the way, the number “7” in this case is a mold number. Other bottle specimens shown at those links show a “5” or a “6” on the bottom. This indicates at least seven virtually identical molds were made for the production of that particular bottle design. I would guess that if you were able to find other examples of the bottle online over a period of time, you would eventually see bottles with a number “1” through “7”, possibly more numbers, but at least we can say a minimum of seven molds were fabricated for their production.
Hope this helps!
Take care,
David
Found a glass bottle without lid in a stream near an 1880’s farm in Maine. It says Trademark Lightning Registered US Patent Office with Putnam and the number 3 on the bottom. Based on site info this appears to be an older bottle than I thought. Can you tell me anything more about it based off the relatively low Putnam number on the bottom?
Hi Lori,
The fruit jars marked “Putnam” along with a mold number on the base were made by a number of glass manufacturers. Each one of those glass companies most likely had their own set of molds to produce the jars, and those molds were typically numbered. A smaller glass company may have only had a small number of molds (say less than five?) but others may have had many more, so the mold numbers on the jars they made may extend much higher. So, as a result, it is difficult, if not impossible, to know just how early, or by whom any particular one of those jars was made. This may not answer your question exactly, but it’s the best I can do. Also, if you haven’t checked it already, please check out my entry on “Trademark Lightning Putnam”, on this page: https://glassbottlemarks.com/bottlemarks-5/
Best regards,
David
Hi…1st time here. Found 4 bottles when gas lines dug in Lowell MA:
1. Aqua glass bottle:
PUREOXIA BOSTON, Registered, 1 PINT and 12 FLU OZS, Bottom: 1922. I found out it is gingerale, but no topper.
2. Brown long neck with 28 565 near bottom. On side.
3. Aqua/Green
FEICENS PAN
r o N … R is lowercase, o is almost square
Newark NJ
Hi there, thank you for this article. I recently found a number of bottles out in the desert and they’re all rather mysterious to me. I’ve been trying to figure out what they are, but I’m stuck. One particularly is Mexican and says Larrea on it. I think it’s a Tequila Bottle. The distributor (Mexico D.F.) matches other tequila bottles, but I can’t find anything, other than a supreme court case, about G.A. LARREA. Seems like a corrupt mining family that did dabble in some bottle production. I’m not sure. Have you ever seen anything like this before?
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ar6oxZReqkMbgaEKanLX2Y9cYPZD7w
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ar6oxZReqkMbgaELmEeuoYFTHQHQ8w
Hi Leighan,
I’m afraid I don’t have any meaningful information to pass along. Interesting bottle! I would guess it’s from the 1930s-1960s era, but no guarantees that is accurate. I’m not very familiar with bottles from Mexico, especially older ones. Perhaps a reader who lands on this site will have better info on the bottle and the Larrea company.
Best regards,
David
I’m wondering if I could send you a couple of images to see if you can identify its origin? I was told it was 1960s American but unknown really!
Scott, I sent you a direct email, with no reply. Can you check your spam/trash folders?
Thanks,
David
Hi David,
I have a bottle that I found at Lake Tinaroo, and it states TI 403 on top and the same on bottom but also has not to be refilled. Any idea of its provenance.
Mel, sorry I have no idea on your bottle.
David
I found this bottle at my father’s house in Connecticut. For many years during the depression the family had a “dump” in the woods behind the house. The bottle has a porcelain swing top and the work Root with an X and a 31 on the bottom. I read the article about the Root company on this website and saw the mention of this bottle mark. Has it been confirmed to be a bottle from 1931? Thanks very much!
Sharlene,
I don’t know, to be honest. It might be a date code, but it also might actually be just a mold number which, in that case, would tell us nothing about the year it was made.
David
I have a cobalt blue 8 sided bottle with Squibb on the side and made in USA around 330 on bottom. Can anyone tell me anything about that bottle
Great site! I use it all the time for the items I find while dump-digging.
I was wondering what the 3 underlined roman numeral ‘I’ marks signify. These are located at the 6 o’clock setting on the bottom of the bottle seen here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/141980306@N08/50086267863/in/dateposted-public/
Hi Julie,
That is the mark used by Midland Glass Company. I honestly am not sure exactly what the mark is supposed to represent, but had assumed it may be a “stylized” letter M. If that is the case, it is oriented upside down on that particular bottle base, relative to the other characters. The “76” may be a date code for 1976. The mark is often seen on the bottom of beer bottles of the early and mid-1970s. See my entry here on Page 4:
https://glassbottlemarks.com/bottlemarks-4/
Thanks for the kind words about my site, and hope this helps!
David
Thank you for the information. I thought it was suppose to be some Greek numerals or something. I would have never guessed it was a letter.
I do appreciate your site. I have it bookmarked on my tabs.
Thank you so much for responding to my inquiry.
Hi Julie,
I’m not 100% positive that the mark is meant to be a “stylized M”. But, to me, if you imagine the horizontal stroke and the three vertical strokes are closely connected (without a space between them) it does resemble an odd capital M, or a capital E lying on it’s side, or maybe a three-toothed comb! 🙂 Perhaps someone who actually worked for Midland Glass Company can comment on this and let us know for sure what it is supposed to signify!? (Readers??) Thanks and take care!
David
Hi, I’ve found a small glass bottle type thing, it appears to be an old inkwell but I don’t know for sure. It has 362 on the bottom and then a separate 3 – any ideas?
Chloe, can you email me a pic of the item, with a picture of the base markings? My email address is listed at the bottom of the webpages on this site under “Contact info/ Notes”. Best regards,
David
Hi –
I found a clear whiskey bottle (slightly curved flask) about 9″ tall. On the bottom is Ball and then 172-66 D-23 and B-5. Are you able to tell the approximate date of this bottle?
Thank you!
Cindy Humphries
Cindy, I really can’t be sure. I suspect the “66” is a date code for 1966 but I may be incorrect. D-23 is a distiller code number. Most liquor bottles of that time period have a liquor bottle permit number, then a dash, and immediately to the right of the dash, the date code. I can’t find a reference for the number “172”. Ball was known to have used “161” as their liquor bottle permit number. Perhaps they also used the number 172(?) To be honest, I’m simply not sure. Please see a list of the ‘liquor bottle permit numbers’ by searching online with those 4 keywords.
David
I have found a glass medicine bottle near a river. It is brown with a metal top for inserting a needle. The bottom markings are 9, then MV in a circle, then the number 34. Just curious as to what the age of the medicine bottle is.
Hi Bessie,
I’m not familiar with the “MV in a circle” mark. Your bottle sounds like a typical “serum vial” or serum bottle, which has been made in a number of sizes for many years, typically in clear and amber glass. The most commonly found bottles of that type were made by Wheaton (often bearing a “T.C.W.Co”, or “W in a circle” mark on the bottom, along with a mold number). I believe the most common usage of those types of bottles (outside of a lab, a hospital, or doctor’s office setting) is for insulin for diabetes patients. I have found similar serum bottles, along with a wide variety of other bottles for all kinds of products, cast up in random driftwood piles along the shores of the Ohio River. Such bottles were most likely merely part of ordinary household trash (discarded along creeks and streams farther upstream within the watershed) that was “picked up” and floated downstream during high water events.
In any event, if you would like to send me a pic of the base markings, my email is listed at the bottom of the webpage under “Contact Info”.
Best regards, David