'Every Dad' Has This Retro Jack Daniel's Collectable. It Isn't Actually Valuable

We may accrue collectables for a variety of reasons, from nostalgic attachment to an appreciation of their distinctive aesthetics, but there's no denying many hang onto certain curios in the hope they might prove to be worth an unexpected fortune. Sadly, there is one Jack Daniel's collectable that, according to some, every dad has stashed away, but is disappointingly lacking in value — the tin box of the Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 1904 Gold Medal Gift Set.

This handsome-looking container bears a portrait of Jack Daniel's founder and distiller Jasper "Jack" Newton Daniel, proclaims the whiskey's status as a recipient of the gold medal at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, and is garlanded with the slogan "Quality is the essence of our whiskey and shall ever be our watchword" across the front. The full gift set would have originally included a bottle of Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 whiskey (check out our ultimate bottle guide to this American classic), accompanied by either two square rock glasses or two packs of branded playing cards and a smaller tin for holding them.

Unfortunately for those holding onto one of these collectables, the tin was not made in 1904, but far more recently. An assessment of the gift set featuring the playing cards on the website Whiskey.Auction estimated that it was produced in either the late 1980s or early 1990s. This might account for the tin's prevalence. On the r/jackdaniels subreddit, one user sought opinions on his own tin, which had belonged to his late father and was suspected to have been purchased prior to 1985. In response, another user commented: "Every dad had this tin. Not worth much."

It's not unreasonable to wonder what an item linked to a popular brand could be worth (you might be surprised by what some of the 10 vintage fast food collectibles everyone used to have in their kitchen are going for today), but the fact that this Jack Daniel's tin is not especially valuable is demonstrated by the range of prices you can expect to pay for one. The example featured on Whiskey.Auction was sold in 2019 for a winning bid of £105, or $143.70, but it should be noted that it included the unopened bottle, the playing cards, and their container. The tin alone is listed for as little as $6.95 on eBay, with the highest price being $118.99.

For Jack Daniel's fans, this may be considered a blessing — sure, if you have one of these tins in your closet, it won't be paying off your mortgage, but if you want a fun, nostalgic artifact linked to the world's top-selling whiskey, it can be secured quite inexpensively. If you are a collector with an eye for a good investment, however, you may be better off looking into the whiskey itself rather than its accoutrements — some limited-edition Jack Daniel's whiskeys have been spotted by shoppers at Costco, and while they are affordably priced in store, they can go for serious money on the secondary market.