Scots collector amasses 6,000 beer can collection

Alex Drummond, 58, started collecting the used cans as a teenager and over the course of 41 years has gathered the vast collection.

The retired painter and decorator keeps the cans in his spare room and attic, and has a number of special edition versions of well-known beers.

Mr Drummond, who lives in Kirkcaldy, Fife, said: “I started saving beer cans when I was about 17.

“I was having a drink with my dad one night and we put our empty cans on the mantlepiece and it quite simply just grew from there, really.

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“I’ve been acquiring cans for 41 years now and at last count I had well over 6,000.”

Mr Drummond has been offered more than £1,000 for just one of his cans by a Swedish collector but decided not to part with it.

He said: “The oldest that I have is a 1964 Tennent’s can. It even has a recipe on the back. They certainly don’t make them like that now.

“I would say that one is probably my favourite out of all my collection.

“I have a limited edition Stella Artois can, which was made to mark the solar eclipse a few years ago. It’s pure black and only 1,000 were produced at the time, so I’m lucky to have it.

“I also have a Carling ‘find the gold’ can, so it’s not just the usual everyday ones that are in my collection.”

Mr Drummond went on: “Collecting beer cans was hugely popular throughout the 1970s. In fact, it was the fastest growing collectible item of the decade. It’s really huge in America – they even have a convention similar to Comic Con.”

However, his collection – which he says he could never throw away – is dwarfed by that of American Jeff Lebo.

Mr Lebo claims to have the largest beer-can collection in the world, with 83,000 stored in a custom-made house in which visitors can stay.

Mr Drummond said: “Mine isn’t that big, but I am beginning to run out of space in my spare room.

“That’s why I’ve decided to put the majority of the cans in boxes and store them up in the attic – I could never throw them away.”

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