Most old cast iron skillets are worth approximately $15-100. Unmarked pans usually sell for $10-40, common Wagner and Lodge pans for $20-60, and the everyday Griswold sizes such as the #8 and #10 for $40-150 depending on the logo and condition. The pans that bring several hundred dollars or more are the scarce sizes and logos: tiny #2 skillets, very large #13 and #14 pans, Griswold "spider" logo pieces, early "ERIE" marked pans, and a handful of odd designs. Condition decides the rest. A crack or a warp drops even a good Griswold to a fraction of its value, while rust and crusty old seasoning, which look alarming, can usually be cleaned off.
Telling these apart takes one look at the bottom of the pan. The logo, the size number, the pattern number and the ring around the outside edge carry most of the information, and the cooking surface fills in the rest.
Quick answer
- Most old skillets sell for $15-100; unmarked pans $10-40, common Griswold #8 and #10 $40-150.
- Turn it over: the logo style, size number, pattern number and heat ring date most Griswold and Wagner pans.
- Cracks and warps cut value hard; rust and old seasoning can usually be removed.
How to check yours, step by step
- Turn the pan over and look at the center. Find the maker's logo. Griswold pans use a cross inside a double circle with "GRISWOLD" across it, or a slanted script "Griswold's". Wagner pans read "WAGNER WARE SIDNEY -O-" or "WAGNER" in an arc. Lodge pans say "LODGE" or carry no name at all on older examples.
- Read the size number. A large number, usually at the twelve o'clock position near the handle or under the logo, is the size. It refers to old wood stove eye sizes, not inches. A #8 skillet is about 10.5 inches across the top, a #10 about 11.75 inches, a #3 about 6.5 inches.
- Find the pattern number. Griswold and some Wagner pans carry a smaller three or four digit number near the handle on the underside, sometimes with a letter after it. This is the pattern or mold number and helps date the pan and confirm it matches the logo.
- Check for a heat ring. A raised ring around the outer edge of the base is a heat ring. Look at whether it is present, smooth all the way around, or notched. On Griswold pans it helps separate earlier from later production; on old Lodge pans a ring with three notches is a well-known early feature.
- Look for a gate mark. A long raised scar or a filled seam running across the middle of the bottom is a gate mark, the spot where molten iron entered an old sand mold. It usually means the pan was made before about 1890.
- Feel the cooking surface. Run your fingers across the inside. Older pans were machined and polished to a smooth, almost satiny finish. Most pans made after the 1960s have a pebbly, as-cast surface.
- Check it is flat and sound. Set the pan on a flat counter, bottom down, and press each edge. If it rocks or spins, it is warped. Shine a light on both sides and look for hairline cracks, especially from the rim inward and around the handle.
- Note the condition of the finish. Light surface rust and thick old seasoning are cleanable. Deep pitting, red burned areas from a fire and chunks of missing iron are not.
Griswold logos and how to date them
Griswold was based in Erie, Pennsylvania, from the 1860s until the company was sold in 1957, after which production moved and the brand faded. The logos changed over time, and collectors use them to date pans. The years below are approximate and the stages overlap.
| Logo or mark | Years | How to recognize it | Typical value, #8 skillet in good condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| "ERIE" pans, no Griswold logo | About 1880s to 1907 | The word ERIE on the bottom, often with a size number, sometimes a heat ring | $75-250 |
| Slant logo with ERIE | About 1909 to 1929 | Slanted script "Griswold's" with ERIE beneath, often with heat ring | $60-175 |
| Large block logo, heat ring | About 1920s to 1940 | Big "GRISWOLD" in straight capitals across a cross in a double circle, ring around base | $60-175 |
| Large block logo, no heat ring | About 1930s to 1940 | Same large logo, flat base | $50-150 |
| Small block logo | About 1940 to 1957 | Much smaller logo near the center, usually with pattern number | $35-100 |
| Post-1957 Griswold and "Made in USA" smooth bottom | After 1957 | Small logo or none, rougher casting | $20-50 |
| Victor (Griswold's lower-priced line) | Early 20th century | "VICTOR" on the bottom, no Griswold logo | $40-120 |
Sizes change these numbers more than logos do. The #8 and #9 were made in enormous quantities. The #3, #5 and #6 are similar or slightly below. The #2 and the large #12, #13 and #14 were made in far smaller numbers and sell for much more.
Wagner, Lodge and other makers
Wagner Manufacturing began in Sidney, Ohio, in 1891 and made huge quantities of skillets well into the twentieth century. Wagner pans with the stylized "WAGNER WARE SIDNEY -O-" logo and smooth surfaces are good cooking pans and sell well, but they are more common than Griswold. In 1957 the Griswold name passed to the owners of Wagner, and some later pans carry simplified logos from that period.
Lodge, of South Pittsburg, Tennessee, has made cast iron since 1896 and still does. Older Lodge pans were often unmarked or marked only with a size and a letter, and the three-notch heat ring is the best-known clue to an older piece. Modern Lodge pans, with the logo and a rough pre-seasoned surface, are inexpensive new and sell used for less than retail.
Many good old pans are unmarked. Birmingham Stove and Range, Wagner and Lodge all made unmarked pans for stores and catalog companies, and these sell as cooking pans rather than collectibles. Smaller makers such as Wapak (known for its Indian head logo), Favorite Piqua Ware, Vollrath and Martin have their own collectors.
| Pan | What to look for | Typical value |
|---|---|---|
| Unmarked smooth American pan, #8 | Machined surface, maybe size number only | $15-40 |
| Unmarked rough-surface pan | Pebbly surface, often Asian import or recent | $5-20 |
| Lodge, older, three-notch heat ring | Notched ring, smooth-ish surface | $30-80 |
| Lodge, modern logo | Pebbly surface, pre-seasoned | $10-25 |
| Wagner Ware Sidney -O-, #8 | Stylized logo, smooth surface | $25-70 |
| Wagner "1891 Original" | Reissue from the 1990s, marked as such | $15-40 |
| Wapak Indian head skillet | Indian head in a circle on the bottom | $100-400 |
| Gate-marked pan, 19th century | Long gate scar across bottom, often with feet or a heat ring | $50-300 |
| Griswold #2 skillet | Tiny pan, smaller than the #3 | $300-900 |
| Griswold #12, #13, #14 | Very large pans | $150 to several thousand, #13 highest |
| Griswold spider logo skillet | A spider and web in the logo, small pans | $500-2,000+ |
| Griswold specialty pieces | Griddles, deep skillets, chicken fryers, muffin pans | $50-500 |
The ranges are for pans that are flat, uncracked and cleanable. A cracked or badly warped example of any of these sells for little more than a decorative piece.
Why a smooth cooking surface matters
Before about 1960, most American makers ground or polished the inside of their skillets after casting. The result was a smooth, glassy surface that takes seasoning evenly and releases food well. Cooks still prefer these pans, which is why a common unmarked old pan often outsells a newer pan from a famous brand. When manufacturers cut costs after mid-century, they stopped machining and sold pans with the rough as-cast surface still visible.
So the surface is both a dating clue and a value clue. A pan with a Griswold-style logo and a rough, sandy cooking surface should raise questions.
Condition: what can be fixed and what cannot
Cracks are fatal for value. They often start at the rim or near the handle and can be hard to see under crusted seasoning. Tap the pan gently with a wooden spoon: a sound pan rings, a cracked one often sounds dull.
Warping comes from overheating or rapid cooling. A pan that spins on a flat stove or rocks under light pressure is worth much less to collectors and cooks alike. A very slight wobble lowers value; a strong spin can halve it or more.
Pitting is the rough, cratered surface left by deep rust. Light pitting on the bottom affects value a little; pitting in the cooking surface affects it a lot.
Fire damage shows as reddish or grey, flaky iron, often from a house fire or a self-cleaning oven. It weakens the metal and seasoning will not stick well.
Rust and old seasoning look the worst but are the easiest to fix. Collectors strip pans in lye baths or by electrolysis, then reseason. A crusty pan that is flat and uncracked underneath is worth almost the same as a clean one, because buyers know what lies below.
Reproductions and fakes
Fake Griswold pans, mostly imported, have been sold for years. Common signs are a rough, grainy surface inside and out, a blurry or shallow logo, letters that look slightly wrong in shape, a heavier, thicker casting, and no pattern number or a pattern number that does not match the size. The same applies to reproduction cast iron banks, trivets and doorstops, which are common at flea markets. Comparing the pan side by side with a known genuine example of the same size is the most reliable check.
Some modern makers also produce high-quality smooth pans in an older style. These are honest new products marked with their own names and should not be confused with antiques.
Common mistakes
- Putting a crusty pan in a self-cleaning oven or a fire to burn off seasoning. This often warps or cracks it and destroys the value.
- Treating the size number as the diameter in inches. A #8 is about 10.5 inches.
- Assuming every pan with "Griswold" on it is old. Check for a smooth surface, a crisp logo and a matching pattern number.
- Missing a hairline crack under old seasoning.
- Paying collector prices for a Wagner 1891 reissue or a modern pan with an old-style logo.
- Sandblasting or grinding a pan to clean it, which changes the original surface collectors pay for.
- Listing a common #8 at the price of a rare #2 or #13 because the logos match. Size drives the price as much as the logo.
What to photograph
- The bottom of the pan, straight on, in good light, so the logo, size number and heat ring are clear.
- A close-up of the pattern number near the handle.
- The cooking surface, with light from the side to show smooth or rough texture and any pitting.
- The pan sitting on a flat surface, from the side at eye level, to show whether it is flat.
- The rim and handle close up, where cracks start.
- A ruler across the top of the pan for size.
When to get it looked at in person
Most skillets do not need a professional. An antiques dealer who handles kitchenware, a cast iron collectors' group or a local flea market specialist can confirm a logo and size in minutes at no charge. A formal appraisal costs about $100-300 and only makes sense for a full collection or a small group of rare pieces such as a #2 skillet, a #13, a spider logo pan or a large set of early ERIE pieces.
A collection worth more than a few thousand dollars is usually best sold through an auction house or dealer that holds dedicated kitchen and cast iron sales. For everything else, sold listings for the same logo, size and condition give a clear picture. Estates that hold cast iron often hold other kitchen and household pieces too; our guides to Depression glass, old china dishes and sterling silver versus silver plate cover the most common ones.