IMO re-lidding a can, with the wrong lid, and then leaving teeth marks is like a Yankee's hat on Big Poppy.. It just doesn't look good. I like the lid-less cans in my collection, teeth marks and all. I understand the repair people and what they do. But I always think of the guy/gal who drank out of a can with gear marks, as a tough and thirsty son of a gun... what do you think?

I do not like putting replacement lids on cans. I like them all original. I also do not like air cans that never contained beer. I want something that at some point in history was filled at the brewery and emptied by the consumer.

Regarding your comment about lidless cans, the first thought that comes to my mind is the guys who used them in their shops to hold nails and such.

However, I know others feel differently about lids and I am perfectly okay enjoying somebody else's collection if it contains cans with new lids.

I have some lidless cans in my collection and while I would prefer they had the correct lid I'm just goes to keep them the way the are.

I also like lidless cans with evidence someone removed the entire lid with an opener, leaving the openers' gear marks tucked up under the rim. The can may have been reused for a workbench container or temporary kitchen container or who knows what, but it prolonged the life of the can and kept it out of the trash!

I would take a lidless can with teeth marks any day of the week, over a can with the wrong lid. With, or without the teeth marks. In my opinion, there is nothing worst than looking at a 30's can with a 50's lid on it. If you do have the need to relid a can, at the very least, it should be the proper vintage with the matching condition to the can. You don't want to put a very clean 30's lid on a grade 2 30's can for example. And I would think that if you desire to punch the can, then you should use the proper opener as well. Just my opinion...........

One more vote for not modifying cans. They are only ever in the condition you get them that one time. Everything that's done to them from lids to touch up to lacquer to etc etc etc takes them further and further from the original. I never did anything to any of my OIs including soaking.

It's funny - we've had this discussion here several times, almost everybody comes down on the side of "leave it the way it is", and all the dealers will tell you they can't sell a can that doesn't have a lid.

I've got one can (that I know about) with a new lid, and it's a can I'd never seen available and am very unlikely to see available again. It would have been at least 50% more if it was all-original, and I would have paid it gladly.

I can see removing and replacing a lid if a can is badly dented, but putting a new lid on a can with gear marks doesn't make any sense at all to me.

Marc

For me, a lid missing because it was removed by the consumer isn't bothersome, it's part of its pre-collector history. If I knew a can had a lid removed by the collector (does this ever happen?) I would not want it.