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Estate Sale Zone

Thrift store finds to look for: the marks that tell you what you’ve found

By Rory at Estate Sale Zone · Published

Turn things over. At a thrift store, estate sale or garage sale, the finds to look for are the ones whose marks you recognise: a maker's mark pressed into the bottom of glass, a backstamp on china, a name on cast iron, a signature on the back of costume jewelry. Below are 76 of them, each with a drawing of what to look for and what it tells you.

A mark tells you who made a piece and, often, roughly when. It doesn't tell you what that piece is worth: condition, rarity and demand decide that. Once you know the maker or pattern, look up what the same thing has sold for, or use our free What is it worth? photo check. Each mark below links to its full page on What Does This Symbol Mean, a reference site we also run, with more about the mark and the sources for it.

Where to look for marks

On glass and china, look at the middle of the base. On cast iron, look at the bottom of the pan. On jewelry, look at the back, the clasp and any small plaque; the stamps are tiny, so a jeweler's loupe helps. On books, look at the copyright page and the back board. Clothing and textiles have a number on the care label.

A small UV flashlight is worth carrying for glass. Uranium glass glows green under it, and ORAU's Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity calls a black light in the dark perhaps the most reliable way to find uranium in glass (ORAU).

Kinds of glass to look for

These are kinds of glass, not one maker’s mark, so most pieces carry no stamp at all. You tell them by color and by how the glass behaves: uranium glass glows green under a black light.

  • A footed glass dish in yellow-green, glowing, with short rays around it

    Uranium glass

    Glass colored with a little uranium, usually yellow or yellow-green, that glows bright green under a black light. It is slightly radioactive.

  • A pale yellow-green pressed-glass candy dish with a lid

    Vaseline glass

    Clear yellow to yellow-green uranium glass, named by collectors for looking like petroleum jelly. It glows green under a black light too.

  • An opaque white vase covered in raised hobnail bumps

    Milk glass

    Opaque glass, usually white, first made as a cheaper stand-in for porcelain. Blue, green and black milk glass exists as well.

  • A pressed-glass bowl with a ruffled rim and an iridescent sheen of blue, purple and gold

    Carnival glass

    Pressed glass with a metallic, rainbow sheen. Fenton made it first, in 1907; collectors gave it the name carnival glass decades later.

  • A pink pressed-glass plate with a lacy pattern round its rim

    Depression glass

    Cheap, machine-pressed colored glass made in the US from the late 1920s into the 1940s, often given away as a premium. Pink and green are the colors people know.

  • An opaque pale green mug

    Jadeite glass

    Opaque pale green glass made into kitchenware and dinnerware by McKee, Jeannette and Anchor Hocking’s Fire-King line, from 1930 into the 1970s.

  • An opaque pale yellow bowl with a gilded rim

    Custard glass

    Opaque pale yellow glass, colored with uranium, made in the US from the 1890s and often painted with flowers or a souvenir town name.

More: Glassware types and makers’ marks on What Does This Symbol Mean.

Makers’ marks on the bottom of glass

American glassmakers pressed these into the glass itself, usually in the middle of the base. Hold the piece up to the light and tilt it: a pressed mark is easy to miss on clear glass.

  • An anchor with a capital H across its shank

    Anchor Hocking

    An anchor with a capital H across it, pressed into Anchor Hocking glass from 1938. The company still makes glass in Lancaster, Ohio.

  • The words Fire King in script, with OVEN above and WARE below

    Fire-King

    Anchor Hocking’s name for heat-proof ovenware, and later dinnerware, from 1942. The mark is most often a script Fire King between Oven and Ware.

  • The word Fenton in script inside an oval

    Fenton

    Fenton in script inside an oval, pressed into Fenton Art Glass from 1970. From 1980 a small number beside it gives the decade.

  • A capital H inside a diamond

    Heisey (H in a diamond)

    A capital H in a diamond, pressed into A. H. Heisey & Co. glass from about 1900 until the factory closed in 1957.

  • A capital I and G overlapping

    Imperial (IG)

    An I laid over a G, Imperial Glass’s mark from 1951. An added L means 1977 or later, after Lenox bought it, and an A means 1981 to 1984.

  • A capital W and G overlapping

    Westmoreland (WG)

    A W and G intertwined, on Westmoreland Glass from the late 1940s until the factory closed at the start of 1984.

  • A capital F inside a shield

    Federal (F in a shield)

    An F in a shield, the Federal Glass Company’s mark from 1932 on tumblers, tableware and kitchen glass. Federal stopped making glass in 1979.

  • A capital J inside a square

    Jeannette

    A J in a square, registered in 1941, on a small share of Jeannette Glass pieces. Most Jeannette glass is unmarked.

More: Glassware types and makers’ marks on What Does This Symbol Mean.

Pyrex and Depression glass patterns

Vintage Pyrex bowls and casseroles are known by their printed pattern, and Depression glass by its pressed one. The pattern name, with the dates it was made, is what to search for when you look up a piece.

  • The word PYREX in capitals above the word pyrex in lower case

    PYREX vs pyrex

    Two styles of the same brand name. The Corning Museum of Glass dates the switch to lower case to the late 1970s, and says the lettering alone doesn’t tell you what glass a piece is.

  • A mixing bowl printed with a farm couple, a rooster and sheaves of wheat

    Butterprint

    A farm couple with wheat, roosters and corn, usually turquoise on white or white on turquoise, made from 1957 to 1968.

  • A casserole dish printed with a band of gooseberries on branches

    Gooseberry

    Gooseberry branches with leaves and berries, mostly pink on white or white on pink, made from 1957 to 1966.

  • A pink casserole dish printed with a band of white daisies

    Pink Daisy

    White daisies on a pink casserole, made from 1956 to 1962. With Snowflake, it was the first printed pattern on opal Pyrex.

  • A mixing bowl printed with small flowers scattered over it

    Spring Blossom

    Green and white flowers and dots, made from 1972 to 1981. Collectors often call it Crazy Daisy.

  • A casserole dish printed with a band of stylised butterflies and leaves

    Butterfly Gold

    Gold-brown butterflies and flowers on white, made from 1972 to 1981 to match the Corelle dinnerware of the same name.

  • A mixing bowl printed with a band of orange and brown eight-pointed stars in circles

    Town and Country

    Orange and brown eight-pointed stars in a Pennsylvania Dutch style, made from 1963 to 1967.

  • A turquoise casserole dish printed with scattered white snowflakes

    Snowflake

    Two rows of snowflakes, most often white on turquoise, made from 1956 to 1967.

  • A plate with cherries and blossoms on branches pressed round its rim

    Cherry Blossom

    Cherries and leaves on branches, pressed by Jeannette from 1930 to 1939, mostly in pink and green.

  • A plate with a ring of curving scrolls and swags pressed round its rim

    American Sweetheart

    Swags and scrolls, made by MacBeth-Evans from 1930 to 1936, mostly in pink and a thin white glass called Monax.

  • A plate with a starburst of pointed diamond facets pressed into it

    Miss America

    A Hocking Glass pattern from the mid-1930s, mostly pink or clear, with even rays pressed into the base of each piece.

  • A plate with a band of lace-like scrolls pressed round its rim

    Royal Lace

    Hazel-Atlas, 1934 to 1941, in clear, green, pink and a deep cobalt blue the maker called Ritz Blue.

  • A plate with open roses on stems pressed round its rim

    Mayfair (Open Rose)

    Open roses on stems, made by Hocking Glass from 1931 to 1937. A different Federal Glass pattern of 1934 shared the name until Federal renamed it.

More: Pyrex and Depression glass patterns on What Does This Symbol Mean.

Pottery and porcelain marks

On china the mark is on the base: painted under the glaze, printed as a backstamp, or impressed in the clay. Several of the best-known words on a backstamp name a place or a kind of ware, not a maker.

  • Two crossed swords, hilts at the top

    Meissen crossed swords

    Two crossed swords painted in blue under the glaze, the mark of the Meissen porcelain factory in Saxony since the 1720s.

  • Two script capital Ls interlaced back to back, with a small letter between them

    Sèvres (interlaced Ls)

    Two script Ls back to back, the cipher of Louis XV and the mark of the French royal porcelain factory. A letter inside it gives the year a piece was made.

  • The words LIMOGES FRANCE in a curved stamp

    Limoges

    A city in France where porcelain has been made since 1771, not one factory. Many makers printed Limoges on their wares.

  • The words HAVILAND and LIMOGES with a small banner between them

    Haviland

    The backstamps of the porcelain firms the Haviland family, New York china importers, ran in Limoges: Haviland & Co., and Théodore Haviland’s separate company from 1893.

  • Three wavy lines one above the other, under a small crown

    Royal Copenhagen three waves

    Three wavy blue lines for Denmark’s three waterways, Royal Copenhagen’s mark since 1775. The crown above them was added shortly before 1904.

  • A lion standing on a crown above four interlocking circles

    Royal Doulton lion and crown

    A lion on a crown over Royal Doulton and four interlocking Ds, used by Doulton’s Burslem factory after it was granted a royal warrant in 1901.

  • A crown above two crossed lines with dots and a script D

    Royal Crown Derby

    A crown over a dotted cross and a D is the old Derby mark, painted by hand from about 1780 into the 1830s. The firm called Royal Crown Derby dates from 1890.

  • The word WEDGWOOD impressed in a straight line

    Wedgwood

    WEDGWOOD impressed in the clay in plain capitals. The words and code letters around it place a piece in a period of the factory’s history.

  • A bottle outline above the initials JT and the word Delft

    Delft

    The Dutch town where Delftware was made from the early 1600s. On pieces since the late 1800s the word often names a blue-and-white style, not the place. Royal Delft marks its own with a bottle, JT and Delft.

  • A small crown above the word DRESDEN in script

    Dresden

    The city where many studios decorated porcelain in the Meissen style in the 1800s. A crowned Dresden mark is not Meissen’s mark.

  • The word Roseville in script above the letters U.S.A.

    Roseville

    Roseville Pottery of Ohio made art pottery from about 1900 until 1954. Raised script Roseville with U.S.A. and a shape number appears on lines from about 1937.

  • The word Weller in script above the word Pottery

    Weller

    S. A. Weller of Zanesville, Ohio, 1872 to 1948. Impressed WELLER, often with an art line’s name, came first; a script Weller or Weller Pottery came later.

  • The word McCoy in capitals with a small USA beneath

    McCoy

    Nelson McCoy Pottery put McCoy on its wares from about 1940 until it closed in 1990. Earlier pieces say NM or nothing.

  • The word hull in lower-case script above the letters U.S.A.

    Hull

    Hull Pottery of Crooksville, Ohio, 1905 to 1986. A script Hull dates from 1949 and a lower-case hull from the 1960s.

  • The word fiesta in lower case inside a circle

    Fiesta

    Lower-case fiesta is the mark of Homer Laughlin’s Fiesta dinnerware, made from 1936 to 1973 and again since 1986.

  • A reversed R and a P back to back, with short flames rising around them

    Rookwood flame mark

    A reversed R and a P back to back, Rookwood Pottery’s monogram. One flame was added each year from 1887 to 1900, and a Roman numeral gives the year after that, so the mark dates the piece.

  • The words IRONSTONE CHINA under a crowned shield of arms, in a backstamp

    Ironstone

    A hard, heavy earthenware patented in Staffordshire in 1813. On a backstamp the word names the kind of ware, used by many British and American potteries.

  • A diamond with a circle at its top holding Rd, and a letter or number in each of its corners

    Registered design diamond

    A diamond on British pottery, glass and metalwork showing the design was registered between 1842 and 1883. Its letters and numbers give the date of registration.

More: Pottery and porcelain marks on What Does This Symbol Mean.

Silver plate, pewter and cast iron marks

Most of the stamps on silver-colored flatware and serving pieces at a thrift store mean silver plate or no silver at all. Sterling is marked STERLING or 925. Cast iron pans carry the maker’s name on the bottom.

  • The letters E P N S, each in its own small shield

    EPNS

    Electroplated nickel silver: a copper, nickel and zinc base with a thin coat of silver. Not solid silver.

  • The letters EPBM stamped in a small rectangle

    EP, EPBM and other electroplate marks

    EP means electroplated, and the letters after it name the base metal, as in EPBM for Britannia metal. None of them means solid silver.

  • The word QUADRUPLE curved over the word PLATE in an arched stamp

    Quadruple plate

    A grade name on nineteenth-century American silver plate. It was the maker’s own claim about the plating, not a legal standard.

  • A teapot outline, with a thin silver layer drawn over a copper core in a cut-away corner

    Sheffield plate

    Copper with silver fused onto it, made from the 1740s until electroplating replaced it in the mid-1800s. It is not solid silver, and it doesn’t mean silver hallmarked in Sheffield.

  • The words NICKEL SILVER stamped in a small rectangle

    Nickel silver (German silver)

    An alloy of copper, nickel and zinc that looks like silver and contains none. It’s the usual base under silver plate.

  • A crowned rose in a small round stamp

    Pewter touchmarks

    A pewterer’s own mark, often with a name or initials. Other stamps on old pewter, like a crowned rose or an X, were claims about quality.

  • A cross inside a double circle, with the word GRISWOLD across the cross

    Griswold

    A cross in a double circle with GRISWOLD across it, on cast-iron and aluminum cookware from Erie, Pennsylvania. Earlier pieces were marked ERIE.

  • The words WAGNER WARE stacked above the word SIDNEY and a small O

    Wagner Ware

    Cast-iron and aluminum cookware made in Sidney, Ohio, from 1891, marked Wagner with the town’s name.

More: Silver plate, pewter and cast iron marks on What Does This Symbol Mean.

Costume jewelry signatures and silver marks

Signed costume jewelry has the maker’s name stamped on the back, on the clasp or on a small plaque. A loupe helps: the stamps are tiny and often worn.

  • The figures 800 stamped in a small oval

    800 (continental silver)

    80 percent silver, a European standard below sterling’s 925.

  • The words SARAH COV. stamped on an oval cartouche

    Sarah Coventry

    SARAH COV. or SARAH COVENTRY: costume jewelry sold at home parties from the late 1940s to the early 1980s.

  • The words MIRIAM HASKELL stamped on a small oval plaque

    Miriam Haskell

    A New York jewelry house from the 1920s. Haskell pieces weren’t signed until about 1947, so many genuine early ones carry no name.

  • The word WEISS stamped on a small oval

    Weiss

    Albert Weiss & Co. of New York, a costume jewelry firm from 1942 to 1971. Said “wice”.

  • The words EISENBERG ICE in block letters

    Eisenberg

    EISENBERG ORIGINAL, EISENBERG ICE or a single E, from a Chicago dressmaker’s jewelry line. Eisenberg Original is the earliest, from about 1935.

  • A small crown above the word TRIFARI

    Trifari

    TRIFARI, often with a crown over the T. A © beside the name means 1955 or later.

  • The word NAPIER stamped in capitals

    Napier

    The Napier Co. of Meriden, Connecticut, which took the name in 1922.

  • The word MONET with a small © beside it

    Monet

    A costume jewelry line launched in 1937 by Monocraft of New York and Providence. Said “Mo-nay”.

  • The word Coro in script

    Coro

    Coro, in script or block letters and often with a flying horse, founded in New York in 1901. Corocraft and Vendome were its other lines.

More: Jewelry marks on What Does This Symbol Mean.

First edition and book club marks

The marks on a book are on the copyright page, the back board and the edges of the pages.

  • A row of numbers on a copyright page: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

    Number line (printer’s key)

    The row of numbers on the copyright page counts printings. The lowest number left is usually the printing, so a line with a 1 in it marks a first printing.

  • The words FIRST EDITION on a copyright page, below a copyright line

    First edition statement

    The words “First Edition” on the copyright page. Publishers use the phrase in different ways, so the words alone don’t settle which printing a copy is.

  • The back board of a book with a small square pressed into its lower corner

    Book club edition marks

    A small dent in the lower corner of the back board, a jacket with no price, or “Book Club Edition” on the flap: a book club copy, not a publisher’s first.

  • The closed edges of a book with a short stroke of ink on the bottom edge

    Remainder mark

    A stroke of marker, a dot or a stamp on the page edges, most often the bottom: the publisher sold that copy off cheaply as unsold stock.

More: First edition and book club marks on What Does This Symbol Mean.

Country of origin marks that date a piece

A country name can date a piece, because some of these countries no longer exist and some marks were only used for a few years. Look on the base, on a label, or moulded into plastic.

  • The words MADE IN OCCUPIED JAPAN stamped in a curve on the base of a figurine

    Made in Occupied Japan

    Exported from Japan during the Allied occupation after the Second World War. Exports were ordered marked this way from February 1947.

  • The word NIPPON under a small wreath, in a backstamp

    Nippon

    The Japanese name for Japan, used as the country of origin on goods for the US market until 1921.

  • The words MADE IN WEST GERMANY stamped on the base of a vase

    Made in West Germany

    Made in the Federal Republic of Germany, a separate state from 1949 until reunification in 1990.

  • The words MADE IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA in an oval stamp

    Made in Czechoslovakia

    Made in Czechoslovakia, which existed from 1918 until it split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia at the end of 1992.

  • The words MADE IN HONG KONG moulded on the underside of a toy

    Made in Hong Kong

    Made in Hong Kong. US Customs accepted Hong Kong as a country of origin until 2020; goods made there since must say China.

  • The words MADE IN TAIWAN R.O.C. on a small label

    Made in Taiwan (ROC)

    Made in Taiwan. R.O.C. is the Republic of China, the government that moved to Taiwan in 1949.

  • The words MADE IN P.R.C. on a small label

    Made in PRC

    Made in mainland China. PRC is the People’s Republic of China.

  • A clothing label reading RN 12345 below a care line

    RN number

    A number the US Federal Trade Commission gives a company that makes or sells clothing and textiles. Look it up to find the company behind a label.

  • A clothing label reading CA 12345 below a care line

    CA number

    The Canadian version: CA and five digits, issued by the Competition Bureau in place of a company’s name on the label.

More: Country of origin marks on What Does This Symbol Mean.

What to look for at estate sales and garage sales

The same marks, in more places. An estate sale usually covers a whole house, so the kitchen cupboards, the china cabinet, the jewelry box and the bookshelves are all there to turn over. Garage sales are smaller and change every weekend.

Bring the UV flashlight and the loupe, and your phone to look up sold prices. To find sales, Estate Sale Zone lists estate, garage, yard and moving sales in San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange County on one map, each with its days, hours and address.

Questions

Does a mark mean a piece is worth money?
No. A mark names a maker or a kind of ware, and most marked pieces were made in large numbers. It tells you what to search for when you look up sold prices.
What if a piece has no mark?
Plenty of good pieces were never marked: most Depression glass, early Miriam Haskell jewelry and Fenton glass made before 1970, for example. The kind of glass, the pattern or the style can still tell you what it is.
Is uranium glass safe to own?
We don't give advice on that. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's assessment of it is in NUREG-1717, and the EPA has a page on radioactivity in antiques.
Can you tell me if my piece is real?
No. Neither this page nor What Does This Symbol Mean authenticates or values a piece. For that, ask an appraiser or a collectors' society for the maker; many are listed in the sources on each mark's page.

Find a sale to look through

See this weekend's estate, garage and yard sales on the map, and save the ones you want to visit.

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