Scots collector amasses 6,000 beer can collection
This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.
A SCOTTISH collector has amassed a hoard of more than 6,000 empty beer cans.
Alex Drummond, 58, started collecting the used cans as a teenager and over the course of 41 years has gathered the vast collection.
The retired painter and decorator keeps the cans in his spare room and attic, and has a number of special edition versions of well-known beers.
“I was having a drink with my dad one night and we put our empty cans on the mantlepiece and it quite simply just grew from there, really.
CONNECT WITH THE SCOTSMAN
• Subscribe to our daily newsletter (requires registration) and get the latest news, sport and business headlines delivered to your inbox every morning
“I’ve been acquiring cans for 41 years now and at last count I had well over 6,000.”
Mr Drummond has been offered more than £1,000 for just one of his cans by a Swedish collector but decided not to part with it.
He said: “The oldest that I have is a 1964 Tennent’s can. It even has a recipe on the back. They certainly don’t make them like that now.
“I would say that one is probably my favourite out of all my collection.
“I have a limited edition Stella Artois can, which was made to mark the solar eclipse a few years ago. It’s pure black and only 1,000 were produced at the time, so I’m lucky to have it.
“I also have a Carling ‘find the gold’ can, so it’s not just the usual everyday ones that are in my collection.”
Mr Drummond went on: “Collecting beer cans was hugely popular throughout the 1970s. In fact, it was the fastest growing collectible item of the decade. It’s really huge in America – they even have a convention similar to Comic Con.”
However, his collection – which he says he could never throw away – is dwarfed by that of American Jeff Lebo.
Mr Lebo claims to have the largest beer-can collection in the world, with 83,000 stored in a custom-made house in which visitors can stay.
Mr Drummond said: “Mine isn’t that big, but I am beginning to run out of space in my spare room.
“That’s why I’ve decided to put the majority of the cans in boxes and store them up in the attic – I could never throw them away.”
SCOTSMAN TABLET AND IPHONE APPS