Rarest 10 Half Quarts?

[MarkfromIndy]

We don't have much discussion about Half Quarts here, at least not that I remember any time recently. I just got back from visiting a fellow collector here in Indy who had a decent side collection of tougher half-quarts and it got me to thinking about which were the rarest and most desirable 16 ounce cans. Can you guys do your usual incredible research and education here?

I'm assuming the Soul 16 ouncers have to be in consideration here?

Fill in some blanks for me if you would?

[keithker]

I'm sure Eric (Storzman) already has his short list together and would welcome the debate.......

[Cantageous]

16oz Ballantine OD??


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[storzman]

Did not try to narrow it down to a quantity - but these are rare or very tough

There are maybe just as many others that are rare or uncommon variations - mostly of major brands

Flats
224-1 ABC (Giant Size)
224-14 Argonaut
224-18 Ballantine Ale
226-32 Bull Dog Ale
227-13 Busch (Aged "Slow-Cold" - Tampa)
227-28 Champagne Velvet
227-31 Champagne Velvet (15 oz.)
227-32 Champagne Velvet (15 oz.)
228-7 Dawson Ale
229-20-5 Fisher - (15oz) (No Blue Band) (Salt Lake City)
229-21 Fisher - (15oz) (With Blue Band - Premium Light) (Salt Lake City)
230-13 Hamm's ("16 Ounces" at top) (San Francisco)
231-24 Krueger (Newark) "Gum Drop"
231-24sim Krueger (Cranston) "Gum Drop"
232-28-5 National Bohemian (Miami) ( 1/2 QUART at top)
234-17 Red Cap Ale
234-17-5 Regal (gold trim flat) (Regal - Florida tax lid)
234-23 Regal Select (New Easy Opening Alum in BLUE)
234-27 Regent (Century Brewery)
235-2 Royal
235-03 Ruser (with or w/o Contents at seam)
236-8 Tudor Ale
236-9 Tudor Beer

Tabs
138-9 Altes (Ziptop)
141-27 Bohemian Club (15 oz.)
144-1 Bull Dog Stout Malt Liquor
145-6 Burgermeister (1964) Longview, TX
146-23 Calgory Malt Lager
146-24 Calgary Malt Liquor
147-1 Carling Malt Lager
147-11 Cold Brau (Dark blue trim - zip top)
148-24 Dawson Lager
151-10 Gablingers ("Doesn't Fill You Up")
151-17 Grain Belt (Big 16 Ounces - Black Trim)
153-8 Heidelberg (enamel yellow background)
154-29 Lone Star ZT
156-9 Mannchester
157-10 Narragansett FLIP-TOP
162-28-5 Regal (silver trim ZT)
169-7 Wiedemann ("Pull-Tab Top")

[Wrestling Nut]

Storzman, thanks for taking the time to make a fantastic post. My only comment is that I am slightly surprised not to see a Lonestar on your list. I know little about 16oz cans but I believed that one to be tough and desirable.

Thanks again for your post,
Brad

P.S. Isn't there a one of a kind Malt Duck?

[Conehead]

Shameless plug here. I got the Wiedemann Pull Tab Top in a collection purchase a few years ago. I saw the $100.00 book price and wondered how tough it really was.

I don't know much about tabs and just happen to put this can on ebay last night.....it made the list!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/331931785216?ss ... 1555.l2649

[Longhorn Mike]

Lone Star Half Quart zip tab 154/29 should be on the list.

- Mike

[Jeff]

Shameless plug here. I got the Wiedemann Pull Tab Top in a collection purchase a few years ago. I saw the $100.00 book price and wondered how tough it really was.

I don't know much about tabs and just happen to put this can on ebay last night.....it made the list!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/331931785216?ss ... 1555.l2649

wiedemann16a.JPG

From my experience It's tough. My father and I dumped Eastern Ky in the 70's and we pulled cases and cases of Wiedemann tabs from dumps, both 12 oz and 16 oz but I never found one of these cans. Plenty of 12oz 'Pull Top" tabs and the other 16oz varieties but never a 16oz "Pull Top". I might have at one time had 8 or 10 cases of Wiedemann pint cans by Wiedemann but not one of these.

[MarkB]

how about the white Naty Boh 16 oz as a flat top? Have not seen many. Or have I just not paid enough attention and they're out there. Mark

[Cantageous]

Schlitz 16oz with Maroon bands from Tampa

Both 16oz paper label Eblings cones


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[Cantageous]

Colt 45 flat from Miami


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[Wheaton]

Great thread. The 16oz red Altes was the first one to cross my mind, and it's right there on EC's list.

I might add the enamel red Goebel Private Stock 22 to the flattop list. Tough in any condition - makes all the other Goebel 16s seem common.

[MarkfromIndy]

I got to see both Ebling cone half quarts this weekend here in Indy. Mint as they come. Didn't even think of them. The Embassy Club flat is always on Ebay for over $500, so I assumed it's a rare one. I thought there were a couple of "only a few known" ones that sold for more than a couple thousand, but I can't remember which ones. The Lone Star one rings a bell. Thought there was one from Maier that was a "grail" type one too.

[barfly]

There is a one of a kind Malt Duck 16 ouncer from Detroit, Colt 45 Malt Lager with a blue stripe from Baltimore and another slightly different from Miami which might be unique also.

[kamsquared]

I don't have that many cool cans so I like showing this one off. 16oz Colt Malt Liquor with the blue horse in the shoe from Detroit. Too bad it was a cut down paint over but it's still one of my favorites in my collection.

[storzman]

Good one on the Lone Star - can't believe I missed that. I'm guessing 8 or so of them known, most are clean vs dumpers. I added to the list

I know of the Malt Duck - not sure if it's test or what? I'd love to own it tho! I have a few other one or two test cans and just left off the list to avoid the argument

I guess I should have the Burgermeister with the All Aluminum softop on the face - maybe 3 known, but Burgie Dave sent pics and said he had a 6 pack or real ones - but none surfaced

Ballantine OD - I'm not aware of this can - 16s first came out in 1954 so does not sound right?

16oz Tampa Schlitz - 1958, that's my can pictured in the thread - I thought about it - but I likely have some other Schlitz variations that are just as uncommon - but the Tampa can is cooler

Colt 45 Tampa with blue Malt Liquor - not that uncommon - there are two variation on contents at the seam

Love the picture of the cut down Colt - seems a lot of work to both cut and then paint over - must have got the sheets cheap!

I guess I could have put the 15 oz Boh Club on the flat list also as probably just as rare either way. I have a early ring but have seen it as flat also

[storzman]

oh - added another - Bull Dog Stout Malt Liquor from Grace Bros - zip top

[kamsquared]

Love the picture of the cut down Colt - seems a lot of work to both cut and then paint over - must have got the sheets cheap!

Full sheets are 7 - 12oz cans high (I think)...so that would work out to 5 - 16oz cans. That would mean there are a bunch of the same paint over cans with the tops cut off, the bottoms cut off, and the middle section (like mine).

[MarkfromIndy]

I saw the Grape Malt Duck Half Quart in Gene's collection, pretty sure. Forgot all about the Bulldog Stout Zip. I know there are some rare flats (and one in particular that Ziggy Sliwa had at his house in his collection that he said he paid $1000+ for in 1991 and I just can't remember the label.Was it Argonaut?) like L&M, but not sure of the actual scarcity.

Storzman, thanks for the detailed info!

[kruegerbock]

I think the rarest 16oz. can I have is a 16oz. Krueger gumdrop zip from Cranston. I think I got it from Charlie Bacon at a Blue-Gray eons ago. I know he had more than that one. I don't always go for really off-grade stuff, and this might have been Grade 27. It was just a thrill to get a can that fits my favorite collecting area (Krueger) that I didn't even know existed.

[Wheaton]

I don't have that many cool cans so I like showing this one off. 16oz Colt Malt Liquor with the blue horse in the shoe from Detroit. Too bad it was a cut down paint over but it's still one of my favorites in my collection.

Colt ML - Front.jpg

Colt ML - Right.jpg

That is the coolest thing I've seen in a decade. You couldn't have gotten any luckier with all the meat and potatoes of an unknown label perfectly centered like that. Too cool!

[storzman]

I think the rarest 16oz. can I have is a 16oz. Krueger gumdrop zip from Cranston. I think I got it from Charlie Bacon at a Blue-Gray eons ago. I know he had more than that one. I don't always go for really off-grade stuff, and this might have been Grade 27. It was just a thrill to get a can that fits my favorite collecting area (Krueger) that I didn't even know existed.

Al - wish you had a picture - that would be a tough can

Forgot earlier to agree with Dave Wheaton that the enamel red Goebel is one tough can - I did not list it as I have seen quite a few dumpers. But on grade - that's very tough.

Can anyone who know MI cans tell me the difference in the two enamel reds in the USBC? Since you don't see them not sure what to look for. Maybe something that is also a variation on the 12 oz will give a clue?

[Flat_Top]

Can anyone who know MI cans tell me the difference in the two enamel reds in the USBC? Since you don't see them not sure what to look for. Maybe something that is also a variation on the 12 oz will give a clue?

On the 12 oz enameled Private Stock 22 examples the difference is on the side panels. One has green writing and the other has red writing.



Maybe the same difference on the 16 oz cans? Here is my 16 oz enameled can. It has the red writing on the side. Anyone have one with green writing on the side?

[Beercanpete]

Great thread!! 16's are my favorite cans ... I was out of town or I would have responded sooner to this.

I decided to take it upon myself to go back to the tag line in the Subject heading, to identify the rarest 10 half quarts. I decided to make separate lists for tabs and flats, and to not include cans that I think might have been test cans (sorry, Malt Duck) or unconfirmed cans, at least to my knowledge (sorry, Ballantine OD). I also decided not to try too hard to include minor variations--for example, the Schlitz from Tampa in this thread is undoubtedly very tough, but I'll bet there are a couple out there that we don't know about (it's a lot harder for a Red Cap Ale to be hiding in someone's collection that we don't know about than a Schlitz). I decided to include 15's but not 14's (the National Boh and Draft 14's would make the list otherwise). I'll put my lists in alphabetical order, no ranking within the top 10 implied here:

10 rarest flats:
224-14, Argonaut
226-32, Bull Dog Ale
unlisted, Burgermeister "All Aluminum Can"
228-5, Coors
230-13, Hamms
unlisted, National Bohemian white can
234-17, Red Cap Ale
unlisted, Regal FT, shown in this thread
235-3, Ruser
236-6, Soul ML

10 rarest tabs:
138-9, Altes
141-27, Bohemian Club
144-1, Bull Dog Stout
146-23, Calgary Malt Lager
146-24, Calgary Malt Liquor
147-1, Carling Malt Lager
154-22, Krueger
154-29, Lone Star
156-9, Mann Chester
162-28-5, Regal ("Tastes Like Fassbier", shown in this thread)

I found it tougher to select 10 flats than 10 tabs ... I can think of five flats that come from either Maier or Grace Bros (224-1 ABC, 225-30 Brau Haus, 228-17 Dutch Lunch, 231-27 L & M, 235-2 Royal) that are probably just about as tough as the Bull Dog Ale. Anyone know which of these is toughest? I snuck two cans into my top 10 that no one mentioned earlier in this thread (228-5 Coors and 236-6 Soul), plus the white National Boh. These are all cans that are much easier as tabs than flats (though the Soul isn't easy either way). I believe the Coors is unique as a flat and I've never seen the Natty Boh (thanks MarkB for mentioning that one!). On the tabs side, my next two on the list would probably be American 138-12 and Narragansett 157-10. And how tough is the GBX with no embossed letters, 151-14? Never seen that one either.

This is by no means the last word on the Top 10. I welcome everyone to post which cans they'd move into the top 10, and especially why! School us!!

[eric]

storzman wrote:

Can anyone who know MI cans tell me the difference in the two enamel reds in the USBC? Since you don't see them not sure what to look for. Maybe something that is also a variation on the 12 oz will give a clue?

On the 12 oz enameled Private Stock 22 examples the difference is on the side panels. One has green writing and the other has red writing.

I do not think that the two enamel 16's in the book are different. I see that one is labeled "metallic", so I think just a typo. I have not seen a 16oz with green writing on the side. Not to say there isn't one out there. But the 12oz with green writing is a CCC can, and also has a different style "22" on the front. Both of the enamel 16oz cans have the same style "22" on the front, so I think they are identical.

[MarkB]

Pete, thanks, I had 2 of the white naty Boh flats, both dumpers. They were in Jim Dixon's cans. I do not know what happened to the 2d one. I may have sold it at BlueGray before I knew how tough it was.

[MarkfromIndy]

Thanks for the detailed reply, BeerCanPete!!!!!

[Chris E.]

I got to add one more here, the Tuxedo 51 from Norfolk (236-10). For us Virginia collectors that is a holy grail can.

Chris E.

[foreigncanman]

her are a few of our 16's that I think are tougher. Tom Hoffman

[foreigncanman]

here are some more