If you have only ever thought of the tin lunch box as a means to carry lunch to school, then prepared to be amazed. The little tin lunch box has not escaped from the attentions of collectors worldwide. Whenever there are collectors, there is money involved. And when there is money involved, there is potential for business. And so the tin lunch box has become quite a good business for serious collectors.

Like normal collectibles, one criteria in determining the value of a tin lunch box is the age. The older the tin lunch box, the more valuable it is. Collectors realize that it is very hard to find really old tin lunch boxes in mint condition because these lunch boxes are actually used as everyday items. Adding to the age then is the condition of the tin lunch box. Get your hands on a really old tin lunch box in mint condition and it could probably pay for your next vacation!

Next in line is the rarity of the lunch box. If it was mass produced and commonly available, chances are most of the tin lunch box collectors would own one. This drives the demand of such tin lunch boxes down and drops the value as a result. Rare limited edition tin lunch boxes then is the way to go to be a top collector.

Collectible tin lunch boxes are measured on a rarity scale ranging from 1 to 10 with 10 being to rarest. At a rating of 8 to 9 are tin lunch boxes that are very hard to find but not as rare as the 10 rating tin lunch boxes. At the lowest level are tin lunch boxes that are about 20 years old where finding one in mint condition is a manageable challenge.

So now would be a good time to head up to the attic or down to the basement to hunt down those tin lunch boxes that you had while you were young. Then you would need to look up the potential value of you tin lunch box to see if it will pay your bills for a while. Happy tin lunch box hunting!

By Arturo Ronzon

lunch box collector