The bottle, one of only two known, was a highlight of a three-day sale held by Morphy Auctions in Las Vegas on April 12-14 that took a total of $3m.
Morphy Auctions' president Dan Morphy, said: “This bottle is a missing link in the history of Coca-Cola. From the moment it arrived in our hands, we knew it would create a buzz. It’s considered a highly important piece, not only by Coca-Cola collectors but also advanced bottle collectors.”
The new owner of the bottle is a private collector.
It was in early 1915 that the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Atlanta sent a proposal to several large glass houses requesting designs for a standard Coca-Cola bottle.
Bottle trials
A committee of several bottlers and company lawyers met in Atlanta in August 1915 to consider the eight submissions with a design created by Earl Dean of the Root Glass Company, selected for testing.
After trials across a number of bottling plants, some alterations were suggested and on November 16, 1915 a patent was filed for the design familiar to consumers of the world’s most popular soft drink.
For more on the story read ATG’s Coca Cola bottle preview.
