1940s Perone Beer Can Sets World Record at Auction
Long considered a holy grail item for breweriana collectors, the quart cone top can from a Philadelphia brewery hammered at $51,500 at Morean Auctions.
BRIMFIELD, Mass. — A new world auction record was set for a vintage beer can with the $51,500 ($62,830 with buyer’s premium) final bid for a Perone Beer quart cone top can at Morean Auctions in late February.
Described as the only known example, the can jumped from a $25 start to $37,000 and kept heading skyward. Perone was a brand of Otto Erlanger Brewing Co. of Philadelphia, and the can dated to the 1940s, when the cone top format was dominant. Auctioneer Dan Morean described it as “a Grail can for many a quart and Pennsylvania collector.” Bidders agreed, helping to set a new auction record.
The sale had many other notable highlights. A 1930s-era White Horse Pilsener Beer cone top can hammered at $27,500 ($33,550 with buyer’s premium). A York Brewing Lager Beer pre-Prohibition lithographed tin and embossed sign featuring the brewery building also overperformed, hitting $17,000 ($20,740 with buyer’s premium). The auction house noted this was only the second example they had ever encountered in the open market.
A final standout was a Tru Blue Ale cone top can from the 1930s. It underwent a long series of escalating bids before finally landing at $15,500 ($18,910 with buyer’s premium). What made this can stand out is its size — 10 fluid ounces versus the normal 12.
Complete sale results are available at LiveAuctioneers.
