soda bottoms

Mikes post on the trade mark painting of soda bottoms got me thinking about the early pontiled sodas sent west and refilled by whatever soda works could get their hands on the empties. Some sodas seem to lose their paint and their graphite on the bases being buried for 150 yrs while others can retain both their graphite and the paint. My experience with bottles dug in the gold country indicates a better survival rate of intact painted examples. Here are some from my collection. Cal 49er