It appears that collecting Starbucks City Mugs is a new “hot” collectible. The first City collection was introduced in 1995 and was the Icon series followed by the Collage series and then the Skyline series. Now there is the jumbo-sized City mugs series.

It is rumored that in 2004 a woman paid $1,000 for one of the Starbucks City mugs. In a recent August 13, 2009 eBay auction, a 1994 New Orleans 20 oz mug that displayed a Bourbon Street sign sold for over $528.00 and in another auction another mug of the same city sold for over $800! As of the writing of this article, there is a 1994 New Orleans Starbucks City Mug on eBay for $645.00.

The first version of the Starbucks Coffee Istanbul mug is pretty rare and hard to find and is really neat as it has a depiction of the Evil Eye on the mug and the Evil Eye is a common symbol amongst the countries in the Middle East and Mediterranean. There is an Istanbul mug on eBay right now for $499.00! Starbucks Barcelona 1994 Series Prototype City Mug on eBay for $499.00. This particular Barcelona mug is rare and collectible because it was a prototype at only 14oz. rather than the typical 16oz. and the bottom of this mug is blank.

So, if you are looking to start a collection you can pickup a Starbucks City mug for around $49.99 and Starbucks still occasionally introduces a new city mug so keep your eyes open and if you already have a couple of these mugs hold on to them because you never know when the price will skyrocket!

Visit here for Starbucks City Mug blog.

Visit here for lots of Starbucks Mugs and Starbucks City Mugs.