What Do You Do with All Your Empty Tins?

[JimInks]

I put them in the recycle bin. Just did that with a vintage Three Nuns tin. Just never thought about keeping them.

 

[smokertruck]

"the guy glued a champagne cork to an empty tin and used it for an ashtray"
us old guys have been doing that for 60-80 years.
aint nothing new under the sun !

 

[saltedplug]

Add tiers to the cat tower.

 

[jdunbar]

I figured I'd be seeing some great works of tobacco tin art in this thread.. :lol:

 

[buster]

A few years ago I made fire starting kits and used empty tins. The char cloth is in made and stored in an empty snuff tin with a nail hole in the top.

 

[nevadablue]

I will pay postage for US based tin tossers to toss their tins to me. I could use quite a few more.

 

[npod]

I photograph all my tins with a macro lense in high resolution. Then I print them on my photography printer and cut in a circle and double side tape them to the Ball jar they are stored. Then I throw the tin in the trash. I have a huge repository of Tin pictures saved over time. Sometimes I look at them on my iPad and ponder how I managed to smoke that much tobacco. A few memorable ones for sure.
Here is a shot of my cellar with the photographed tins on Ball Jars.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

A few of them I use for my go bag, and put other tobacco's in them (in plastic bags), the rest of them are on display in my shop on the walls, or in my over-flow tobacco cabinet. I've only tossed out the repeat tins.

 

[pianopuffer]

I kept mine for a time, but space in NYC is extremely limited. They had to go in the trash.

 

[menuhin]

On a German classified ad website, this person wants this " 'new' tobacco tin lid" to be purchased by somebody for 15€:

People on the German Craigslist (which does not have the kinky sections) tend to have unreasonably high asking price for their items, much higher than the price of similar items on eBay, and they will 99% ask for bank deposit or cash - which means no return and no buyer protection.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Some guy from Australia had joined the forum a year or so ago, and asked for tins. We even talked via PMs. So, I saved up a whole box full of the most beautiful, unique, and rarest tins that I had, boxed them up, sent a PM, and waited. And, waited, and waited... Then one day, he contacted me and asked me if they were ready. I said yes, and sent him a price for shipping a big box of empty tins to Australia. I never heard back from him.
I tossed them. I'm sorry, but I won't go months saving up tins again. Mrs. Cosmic won't allow it. ::

 

[menuhin]

While we focus on the tobacco, some empty tobacco tins actually sold at prices north of $500.
Tobacco tins in Tobacciana
Tobacco tins in Collectibles
That highest was close to $3000. I have no clue about what is going about these empty rusted vintage tins, perhaps some secret codes or treasure hunting maps are hidden in some of them.

 

[nevadablue]

Npod, that is a really neat idea!
I WILL pay postage if you guys will send me tins.
I will pay you BEFORE you save them if you wish. That way when a medium or large flat rate box is full, you can get rid of it right away.

 

[oldhickory]

I volunteer at a resale shop,modern tins go for 50 cents and sell quickly. Cute ones (Nightcap and Early Morning $1) 30 t0 80 year olds $3 to $50 plus . Donate, don't throw.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Trash acquisition disorder. Just finished a Twinkie, anyone want the wrapper?

 

[molach95]

I don't have too many so I use them for storing nails, screws, thread, needles and other small items, sometimes jewellery/badges and pins. They have warning labels all over them so I just pick them off and don't use them for decoration. My family always used tobacco tins for stuff like this; my parents still have one of my grandfather's rusty old Boar's Head rolling tobacco tins from the 1980s, currently full of screws. I recycle everything mind you, all my tobacco goes into empty marmalade or olive jars, sometimes instant coffee jars. I never buy mason jars.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I tried storing bits, burs, and small components in tins in my workshop, but then I ended up rifling through the tins every time I needed a bur or small screw... "Was it the Escudo or Nightcap that I put the small cone burs? A crap, it was one of the Stonehaven tins."

 

[menuhin]

I am not a collector, but in the new world that emphasizes "newer, bigger, better", everyone seems to think like so.
One thing for sure is a "collector" should have enough time and space, and energy plus ability to organize the collection, otherwise, he is mostly just a hoarder.
Not related, but more trash-worthy than tins:

They look neat, but will probably be treated as trash by the children.

All things except cash, stock, real estate, things that do not rust too fast and have obvious market value will all be treated as trash by the next generations, including the unsmoked artisan pipes if they do not know there is a market for it.

 

[molach95]

That's a great collection, Menuhin. I especially like your old pipe tobacco tins. You even have Player's Whisky flake, such a shame that's out of production now. Even the Navy Cut nowadays. I've never seen an old Cafe Creme tin before, were they better in the past? I actually bought a pack of HW's half coronas in my last tobacco purchase from GQ.

 

[yak23flora]

I keep mine (I'm still new at this) but plan to toss out the ones with garbage art or bad design. To much of that going around. Some of the more popular blends I've seen have amateur-looking art or cartoony pictures or really terrible type selections.