The past week or so has seen an embarrassment of crystal riches -- so much so that we could have run a "SOTD" instead of the more usual "SOTW" (for the undercaffeinated folks, that would be "Shot of the Day").

First was a beautiful "Spring Hill Perfection" from L & A Scharff of St. Louis, Mo: part of a triplet that sold for $147.  Then there Ed Sipos walked off a bona fide enamel "Jed Clayton" at a bona fide bargain price of $127.50.  This was an interesting auction that brought both Paul Van Vactor and Roger Roy into action.  Then we saw a preview of March madness with three Truog novelty glasses selling at super-premium, label-under-glass prices! 

But this week's SOTW pick  is notable on two fronts. 

        First up, it's an exceptionally desirable, exceptionally beautiful, exceptionally rare glass from California.  Any time you see "CA" on a glass, you know to expect a three-digit auction, but even though this one only had the street address it's a $400-$500 collector's special.  It's a "Gamecock Whiskey" from M Rothenburg or San Francisco, shown on p. 158 of HSG.   It was jumped on early by bluroc who is well known for his affinity for the pristine and rare.  But this kicker on this glass is that it's badly damaged!! In the seller's own words  "A REAL TRAGEDY. UNFORTUNATELY THE GLASS IS DAMAGED. ** A 1 1/2'' CRACK DESCENDS ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE GLASS. THE RIM WAS HIT BY ANOTHER GLASS. DOES NOT INTERFERE WITH THE WONDERFUL CLEAR GRAPHICS OF A ROOSTER". 

Two-hot took a poke at bluroc with a $53 bid but he held firm and it took rcl-1949 to unseat him with a $78+ snipe.  Not bad for a glass that would otherwise be headed for the trash compacter!!

Congratulations Rich !!

Incidentally, Rich Lucchesi (the winner) is a long-time collector of CA shots and bottles and has assembled an enviably collection.  He's been kind enough to share some of his glasses with us in "Collector's Showcase".  Take a look - GUARANTEED to make you drool.  These and others in his collection are being incorporated into the  pre-pro.com database.  PLUS, bluroc's collection landed on my desk in jpeg form this past week and all HIS glasses will also be incorporated into the database in coming weeks.  I had to sit down when viewing them - some truly stunning glasses in there.  Kevin (bluroc) is also in Howard Currier's sights for a future "Random Shots" article, so watch out for that too.