A rare Coke collectible - the Export Bottle

In 1926, The Coca-Cola Company first established an office to market Coca-Cola outside the United States. To help introduce Coke to these audiences, a unique package called an “Export Bottle” was created.

These were green bottles with tops resembling champagne foils that were served on ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean. These bottles were used in the late 1920s and early 1930s as our business was first developing in Europe. You can see one of the bottles in the magazine ad I’ve included here.

People often ask me about the most unusual Coca-Cola collectibles. An Export Bottle is definitely one of them!

Because this bottle was distributed for such a short period of time, the Export Bottle is truly a rare item. We have three of these bottles in the Coke Archives, and there are a few in private collections, but this bottle is very hard to find. Most of the bottles one sees today have damage to the foil or the label.

Because the bottles are so rare, if an original Export Bottle went up on auction, it would bring in thousands of dollars.

Now, there have been reproductions of the Export Bottle, so watch out! Don’t pay thousands for a “late-model” bottle!