In October 2006 this double bread pan sold for $21,000!

This brown enamel toy set sold for $9,500!

Prices for cast iron cookware are not so astonishing when you consider their history, intrinsic beauty, and the fact that the pieces cross several collecting genres.

At St. Mary' s Antique Mall and Antique Treasures we' re proud to count Louis Wright, president of Griswold & Cast Iron Cookware Association, as one of our dealers, and he has been generous enough to share this information with collectors old and new:

• Extra Finish Ware--had a polished interior and in some cases they buffed the top of the handles
• Plain Iron--unpolished
• Hammered
• Nickel-plated--available from the late 1800s until about 1930
• Chromium- There were three chromium finishes introduced around 1932;
  • Chrome: a highly polished finish.
  • Silverlike: made by a special process which gave them a bright, silvery finish.
  • Du Chro: flat finish with polished highlights such as cover edges and handles.
• Porcelain--There were three periods of enameling, or porcelainizing:
  • 1930s, when they enameled skillets, skillet covers, and Dutch ovens. In this period the four colors were Mandarin Red, Canary Yellow, Jade Green, and Turquoise Blue;
  • 1940s & 1950s, when a whole line of porcelain ware was introduced which included skillets, No. 3 Oval Roaster, Dutch ovens, and casserole sets. The most common colors were Flamingo Red with Cream, Buttercup Yellow with Dove Gray interiors, and plain iron with white porcelain interior, called Quaker Ware. There was also a black number 2598 hinged skillet and cover. The cover was inside and outside, and skillet outside only. This was available in 1942. A few other color combinations have shown up from that time period.
  • 1960s, when multi-colored and speckled design ashtrays were made. These pieces were marketed form Sidney, Ohio.

• "Erie"--line was introduced in early 1890s.
• Polished- highly polished outside with wood handles, 1940s.
• Hammercast- hammered finish outside, 1940s.
• Aristocraft- new modern artistic design, 1940s - 1950s

Collectors of cast iron cookware need to keep an eye out for the potential counterfeit. The Griswold & Cast Iron Cookware Association maintains a list of known counterfeit items.

If you have a bad feeling about a piece, look at the quality of the casting, and how the lettering lines up, also the size and weight of the piece will be of help as the counterfeits will in general be smaller and heavier then the original.