Davide Andreani first drank a Coke when he was six years old. A native of Pesaro, along the Adriatic coast of Italy, Davide doesn’t recall anything special about the beverage at first sip. His father would often travel for business and one of the things he would bring back to his son as a memento would be a special can of Coke. The first one in his collection was from Germany in 1979, featuring the word “Coca-Cola” translated from various languages in the world.
Davide has always been a collector at heart. When he was young, he would seek after unique coins and stamps. Now he is only interested in Coke cans. There isn’t a particular reason for the beverage choice, other than his passion for assemblage and that it is something he got into at an early age. Today, Davide’s collection consists of over 20,000 distinct cans of Coca-Cola.
Digging through the garbage for empty cans is not how one develops a surplus like Davide’s. A lifetime of meticulous searching of the globe has brought him to where he is today. The assortment of cans on display in his collection are those that the Coca-Cola company had only released for a limited time, sometimes not available to the public. Unique cans are usually produced for commemorative purposes, such as the celebration of special events like sporting events, Christmas and other holidays, the opening of a new factory, or a presidential election. The rarest and most hard are those that are gold or silver in color, some worth upwards of $500.
The internet has helped contribute to Davide’s growing soft drink collection. His website is used to display his individual findings and to communicate with others hoping to trade their rare collectibles. He has several duplicates (not included in the total count), which are used to swap with fellow collectors. Several of Davide’s cans are available for purchase here.
Someday, Davide hopes that his collection will be displayed in a museum. His modest home is where the cans live today, and it is not nearly big enough to showcase all of his findings. Approximately 5,000 cans line his walls and pile up on his floor, with another 15,000 or so catalogued and buried away in the garage. Thus far, the Coca-Cola company hasn’t had much interest in acquiring Davide’s tremendous collection.
Davide received a Guinness World Record in August of 2013. The award title is “Largest Collection of Soft Drink Cans - Same Brand.” In order to distinguish the title, the GWR judge closed Davide’s home for two days to count every can. At the time of certification, the assortment totaled 10,558 unique Coca-Cola cans from 87 different countries. Davide’s collection, now much larger in size, still holds the Guinness World Record.
Other than his amusing hobby, Davide enjoys playing volleyball, tennis, and working with computers. His dream is to visit every country in the world (all while pursuing the rarest soda cans, I’d presume), but for financial reasons he is content with sightseeing via the World Wide Web. When asked whether he enjoys the taste of the soft drink that inspired his life’s work, Davide responded “I drink Coca-Cola very little.”
A tour of Davide Andreani’s Coca Cola Collection (at 12,000 cans)
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Take a look at highlights from this large collection of wacky vintage novelty phones