Bell's Scotch Whiskey, unsure of age

[KCarnagey]

My fiancé and I were given this bottle of Bell's Scotch Whiskey by his old roommate. I've been trying to look online to find out how old this bottle may be, and what may be the value. From what I've read on other websites, the bottle design came out in the 1950's.. 1960's. Other photos I've found online show the volume proof on one side of the bottle label as well as how large the bottle is on the opposite side. On the bottle we have, it only states the size of the bottle and on the other side where the volume proof description should be it says "contents." If anyone has further information on this bottle I would greatly appreciate it.

Here are photos of the bottle.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...z/Photo1-2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...z/Photo1-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...z/Photo1-3.jpg

[Jojo]

Cool bottle! Thanks for the photo links - we will see if we can have it dated for you.

[KCarnagey]

Thank you. Really appreciate it!

[Jojo]

Our contact from Diageo (they hold the records of Arthur Bell & Sons, as well as the company’s bottle and decanter collection) tells us your decanter is part of the ‘Brown and Gold’ series of decanters which were on sale between the 1950s and 1988. The best way to date your decanter is to look at the stamp on the bottom, these refer to the different ceramics companies who have made the Bell’s decanters for us over the years. If your decanter has ‘Royal Doulton’ on the bottom of it, this means it was produced in the 1950s, if it has ‘ Spode’ on it then it was produced between 1960 and 1965 and if it has ‘ Wade’ on it, this means it was produced sometime between 1965 and 1988, when the design was changed.

If you are interested in finding out about the value of your decanter, you can look online at the Bell’s decanter register http://www.bellsdecanters.co.uk/ this is a club for people who collect Bell’s decanters. If you go to the ‘sales’ page and then look at ‘Brown and gold’ then you will see decanters like yours for sale, and how much they are being sold for. If you look at the grading system of valuations on this site, you will be able to see which grade of value fits your decanter.

If you would like a professional valuation, please email your images to either of these auction houses: http://www.bonhams.com/ or http://www.mctears.co.uk/