What do 508, 516, and 532 mean?

On the common clear liquid cups with red markings, 508 is the 1-cup, 516 is the 2-cup, and 532 is the 4-cup. The molded number is the check. A different number is a different cup. Do not guess the size from the photo and then borrow one of these three.

Is faded red paint a rare cup?

No. Faded red is a used cup. The lines wore off. Show them. Comp other cups with tired paint if that is what you have. A cup with raised glass markings and no paint at all is the earlier style, which is a different search, not a cup someone scrubbed.

Is a colored Pyrex measuring cup this cup?

No. Solid red, yellow, or blue measuring cups are a different object from clear glass with red print. Primary-color mixing bowls are a third object. Title the glass you are holding. The bottom number still has to be in the listing.

How much is a Pyrex measuring cup worth?

A clear Pyrex measuring cup is a number on the bottom, a spout or no spout, and red markings that may be faded. It is not a patterned bowl.

By WorthLast updated October 21, 2026Kitchenware Thrifting Journal

Short answerA Pyrex measuring cup is the clear graduated cup, named by the molded number, not by a patterned bowl. The 508, 516, and 532 are the common 1-cup, 2-cup, and 4-cup liquid measures. A spout, a D handle, and faded red lines change the sale. Compare sold listings of that number.

A Pyrex measuring cup is clear oven glass with graduations, not a Butterprint bowl and not a primary-color mixing bowl. Those are other guides. The cup people mean is the liquid measure with a spout and red markings: the 508 is the 1-cup, the 516 is the 2-cup, and the 532 is the 4-cup. The number molded on the bottom is the check. A seller’s “small” and “large” are not sizes. If the number is a different one, search that number. Do not borrow 532 comps for a cup that does not say 532.

The versions split on details you can see. A liquid cup has a spout. A dry 1-cup, the old number 18 among them, has no spout and is filled level to the rim. Early cups have raised glass markings and no red paint. The red print is the later, familiar cup, and it wears off in a dishwasher until the lines are a ghost. A closed D-shaped handle is the older shape. An open handle is later. Metric lines beside the ounces are later than cups marked only in cups and ounces. Some bottoms read “for general household and photographic use only.” Later bottoms warn against the stovetop. None of that is a price. It is how you stop comparing three different cups.

What should you look for?

The molded number: 508, 516, 532, or whatever is actually on the bottom, read from the foot, not from memory of the height. Include the extra mold marks in the photo and do not promote them to a date. A number you cannot read is a cup you have not identified.
Spout or no spout: A spout is the wet measure. No spout, filled to the rim, is the dry measure, and it is a smaller object than the wet 1-cup even when both say one cup. Title the one you have. A chip on the spout is the usual damage. Show it.
Red, raised, or gone: Raised glass letters with no paint are the earlier style. Red paint is the common later style. Paint that has faded to pink or vanished is condition, not a rare variant. Say “markings faded” and show the worst side. Do not redraw them and call the cup original.
Handle and extra lines: A closed D handle versus an open handle, ounces only versus ounces plus metric, and the warning on the bottom. Those are the dating clues you can defend. A solid-color measuring cup, red or yellow or blue glass rather than clear with red print, is a different search. Do not file it here.

What moves the price?

The exact cup: Comp the number, the spout, and the kind of marking. A 4-cup with bright red lines is not a 1-cup with bare glass. One sold listing of a pretty 532 does not price your faded 508. If you only find one sale and it does not match, your range is wide. Wide means you do not pay a collector price.
Faded paint and chips: Collectors and cooks both want readable lines. A cup you cannot measure with is a cup with a fault, even if the glass is sound. Rim chips, a chipped spout, and a crack at the handle are damage. A scratch in the glass is use. Say which.
Not a bowl: Opal mixing bowls, primary-color bowls, and a 4-quart batter bowl with a spout are other Pyrex. The measuring cup is the graduated cup. A pattern name does not belong in the title unless it is printed on this cup. Clear glass with red lines has no pattern name to invent.
Country and warning text: Made in USA, a Corning line, or a later origin, plus the stovetop warning if it is there. Those words separate an older kitchen cup from a current one you can still buy new. Compare the cup with the current new price before you treat a thrift tag as a find. A new cup is a new cup.

Where can you sell it?

eBay: Number, cup size, red or faded or raised, D handle or open, and a photo of the bottom and the worst chip. A single common faded 516 may not clear a label. Read the current fee. A bright, unchipped, clearly marked cup is the one worth an individual listing.
Local: The right place for a chipped useful cup and for a 4-cup you do not want to pack. A cook will pay a used price to measure with it. A collector will not, if the lines are gone. Know which buyer you are talking to.
Keep and measure: A sound cup with readable lines is one of the better ordinary thrift buys, under the price of a new one. You do not have to flip it. Dishwasher heat is what fades the red. Wash it by hand if you want the lines to stay.

What can a photo settle?

A side with the lines readable, the spout or the proof there is no spout, the handle shape, and the entire bottom so the number and the warning can be read. Worth can call a clear cup a Pyrex measuring cup from the shape and the red lines. It cannot distinguish a 508 from a 516 if the number is out of frame, and it cannot see a chip on the spout you cropped out.

What else do people ask?

What do 508, 516, and 532 mean?: On the common clear liquid cups with red markings, 508 is the 1-cup, 516 is the 2-cup, and 532 is the 4-cup. The molded number is the check. A different number is a different cup. Do not guess the size from the photo and then borrow one of these three.
Is faded red paint a rare cup?: No. Faded red is a used cup. The lines wore off. Show them. Comp other cups with tired paint if that is what you have. A cup with raised glass markings and no paint at all is the earlier style, which is a different search, not a cup someone scrubbed.
Is a colored Pyrex measuring cup this cup?: No. Solid red, yellow, or blue measuring cups are a different object from clear glass with red print. Primary-color mixing bowls are a third object. Title the glass you are holding. The bottom number still has to be in the listing.