MOST of us would balk at spending £30 on a bottle of wine especially an empty one but one Barnsley man was very glad he did when he sold it on for £18,000.
The astonishing 600-fold profit margin was achieved by Steve Williams, who purchased the bottle for £30 at an antiques fair at Doncaster.
It is dated 1682, but Steve initially believed it to be a reproduction albeit a nice item and bought it.
But he posted a picture on Facebook and people started giving their opinion on it.
He then took it to bottle expert Alan Blakeman at BBR Auctions, Elsecar, where after experts verified it to be genuine 17th century, it went under the hammer for £18,000.
Alan, who organised the auction, said Steve was a really lovely chap and ‘good egg’ who had even been to present gifts to himself and auction staff.
“It’s definitely 17th century,” he said.
“The only slight doubt was whether it’s English made or not.
“The lip of the bottle looks as though it could possibly have been made by a European glass maker.
“It may well be English made, but if we could be certain, it would have gone for even more.”
Alan said it was the ‘best ever find’ he had come across in all his years in the antiques business.
He said the bottle would have originally belonged to a very wealthy individual, whose initials G R are on the seal above the date, and it would have been used regularly to transport their order of fine wine from their vintner.
“It’s in fantastic condition, how it’s survived like that for more than 300 years, I have no idea.”
