How much is a Griswold cast iron skillet worth?
Griswold skillets are unmarked by size in the way people hope. The logo, the heat ring, and the number on the top handle are the identification.
Griswold made cast iron in Erie, Pennsylvania, and the small logo skillets are the thrift and estate-sale version of “old iron.” The size is a number, often on the handle top: 3, 5, 8, 10, and so on. Those numbers are not inches. A number 8 is the familiar everyday skillet. A number 3 is small. Wagner, Lodge, and unmarked three-notch skillets sit in the same bin and are different makers.
Cast iron is worth keeping when the cooking surface is smooth and the pan sits flat. A dark, even season is use, and it is not damage. Pitting, a crack at the handle, a warp that spins on a flat stove, and a logo that has been ground away are damage. Reproductions and later Griswold-marked pieces from the Wagner merger era exist. The large block logo and the small logo are different periods, and collectors comp them apart. You do not need to be one of those collectors to avoid calling every black skillet a Griswold.
What to look for
- The logo
- Griswold’s name in a cross or oval, or the later marks. “Erie” appears on early pieces. A blank bottom is not Griswold until something else proves it. Wagner’s stylized W is Wagner.
- The size number
- Cast into the top of the handle on most skillets. Read it. Do not convert it to inches in your head and put the inches in the title as if they were the model.
- Heat ring
- A ring on the bottom is a feature of many vintage pans and a way collectors sort them. Photograph it. You do not have to name the ring style if you show it clearly.
- Sit and surface
- Put it on a flat counter. A spin means a warp. Look at the cooking surface in raking light: smooth and dark is seasoned; orange pitting is rust that has eaten the iron.
What moves the price
- Maker and mark
- Small-logo Griswold, large-logo, Erie, Wagner, and unmarked are different comps. A reseller who titles everything “vintage Griswold” is guessing, and the sold prices of guesses are not your comp.
- Size
- The common user sizes and the very small or very large numbers do not trade together. A number 8 in ordinary condition is the market you are probably in.
- Pitting and cracks
- Light surface rust can be a cleaning job. Pitting is missing iron. A crack, including a hairline at the handle junction, is a pan you should not sell as a cooker without saying cracked.
- Warp
- A pan that will not sit on a modern flat burner is a campfire pan at best. Say that it wobbles. Collectors of wall hangers and collectors of stoves are not the same buyer.
Where to sell
- eBay
- Buyers search the maker, the logo style if you know it, and the size number. Photos of the bottom, the handle number, and the cooking surface are the listing. Heavy iron has a real shipping price. Weigh it.
- Local
- The better plan for a common number 8 with a little rust. Someone who seasons pans will pay a user price and pick it up. You will not pay for a surprise dimensional weight.
- Do not strip first
- A intact season is a feature to a cook. A pan you attacked with a wire wheel and a lye tank you did not finish is a project. Leave the surface alone until you know which buyer you have.
What a photo can settle
Bottom logo, handle with the size number, cooking surface in a low side light, and the pan on a flat surface if you can show the warp. Worth can read a clear Griswold mark. It cannot tell pitting from seasoning in a dark overhead photo, and it cannot feel a wobble.
Questions
- Is old cast iron better than a new Lodge?
- Old Griswold and Wagner are often smoother on the cooking surface than a modern rough Lodge. That is a reason cooks like them. It is not a reason for every rusty number 8 to cost more than a new skillet. Compare the specific pan with a new one you could buy this week.
- Should I restore it before selling?
- Only if you know how and you stop at bare, clean iron, not at a damaged surface. A half-stripped pan is harder to sell than a dirty seasoned one. When in doubt, sell it as found and describe the rust honestly.
- What does the number on the handle mean?
- It is the maker’s size, not the inch diameter. Put the number in the title. If you also measure the diameter, say that you measured it, and do not replace the model number with the measurement.