# VERY RARE? Ball mason jars, half pints etc any ideas????



## BARQS19

These were acquired from my grandmother who collected back in the forties. I do not know what these are worth are the size of each jar. Any help would be appreciated. Ok well my dad came in and said that the smallest one was a half pint and the other three are pints. They all have glass lids, the half pint says Ball Ideal,  # 5 on bottom, 2nd jar from left says Ball Sure Seal, # 2 on bottom, third jar from left says Ball Ideal with pat. date of July 14, 1908 on front #6 or 9 on bottom. fourth jar from left is a slightly different color, says Ball Ideal, with pat. date of July 14, 1908 on the back # 10 on bottom.
 Robert
 Barqs19


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## BARQS19

*RE: VERY RARE? Ball canning fruit jars, odd sizes*

Here are the other jars, left to right is a half gallon screw top Ball Mason, #5 on bottom. Second from left is a glass top Ball Ideal half gallon with Pat.D date of July 14, 1908 on front, # 8 on bottom. Third is a Quart? Ball Ideal with pat date of July 14, 1908 on front, # 9 on bottom. Fourth is a Quart? "Atlas E-Z Seal" bottom says Atlas E-Z Seal Trade Mark Reg. #3 on bottom also.


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## BARQS19

*RE: VERY RARE? Ball canning fruit jars, odd sizes*

Last Jar, a quart Mason's Patent Nov. 30th 1858 with screw top lid very crude, any idea of it's value too?
 Thanks,
 Robert
 barqs19


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## BARQS19

*RE: VERY RARE? Ball canning fruit jars, odd sizes*

Hi does anyone have a clue what these are?
 Robert


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## woody

One of the problems with trying to determine value to your jars is that fact that there are so many different variants to the Ball jars.
 Literally hundreds of variants. Without having the jar in hand it is hard to ascertain which variant you have.
 The half pint jar Ball Ideal seems to be the most valuable with a listing of $85-100, if it is the same variant which is listed in the Red Book #9.
 The others are fairly common and are only worth  a few dollars apiece. But, without the jar in hand, it is hard to determine the exact value of your fairly common fruit jars.


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## jarsnstuff

Hi Robert,
    I'd be a little more conservative on the half-pint Ball Ideal at $50-$75, they're not in quite as much demand as the blue Ball Perfect Mason half-pints.  I like your green Ball Ideal at about $10, with the blue Atlas, Ideal & Sure Seal at $1-$3 each.  The half gallon Ideal is maybe $5, with the half gallon Ball mason a bit less.  
    The Mason's Patent jar is probably in the $5 range, made before about 1900 if it has a ground lip, after 1900 with smooth lip.  Values are about the same either way.  All in all, a nice starter collection for you.  -Tammy


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## S.C. Warner

*RE: VERY RARE? Ball canning fruit jars, odd sizes*



> a quart Mason's Patent Nov. 30th 1858 with screw top lid very crude


 
 Hi Robert! I like this one. From the picture it appears to be whittle mold. I own several but none of them anything special other than being ground lip. (and one very recently found at a favorite childhood fishing spot of mine. I have to wonder if maybe i didn't use it as a worm jar, from my parents collection and accidently left it there 40 years ago.) Ball Mason's do come in assorted flavors (sizes, shapes, age,price) and the information you have got so far here (from Woody & Jarsnstuff) is very correct. The 1858 you have is very nice, I found one that looks very similar (would you say so? to the far right) at this web-site. http://www.mindspring.com/%7Eoldbottle/fruitjars.HTM
 It isn't priced though. But as for the other jars at this same site, I'd say they are a little bit pricey (imo). (If not, then I gave my globes away.) You can certainly find out very much facinating information on Ball Mason's, such as history and dating them, by doing a Google search. I'm curious about the whittle mold though, and it's rarity if any. Jarsnstuff very correct in that you have a nice starter collection!
 best,
 den.


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## BARQS19

It looks just like it but I'm kind of confused, but shouldn't the glass top jars have come first? Why would the screw top be 1858? or was that just a Pat. date and it could have been made in the 1900s? Also the lid has a Iron Cross on it with the letters FHJ Co. Genuine Porcelain Lined Boyd's. What is that? Thanks for everyone's help. She wants me to sell these for her.
 Robert


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## jarsnstuff

Hi Robert,  I'm not sure what criteria you're using to determine "glass top jars came first", but John Mason patented the screw-thread closure on Nov.30,1858.  The jars that were made immediately thereafter have square shoulders & will set you back at least $500.00.  Jars with the 1858 embossing were made from the late 1860's until about WWI.  The "Lightning" style jars were first made in the 1880's.  Ball Ideal & Atlas E-Z Seal jars didn't appear until about 1908, and were in production until the 1950's.   Your embossed zinc lid is actually HFJ Co. which stands for the Hero Fruit Jar Co.  Most collectors like to put those lids on jars marked with the HFJ Co. cross & does have some value in its own right as it enhances the value of the jar.  
 Now, as for "whittle", it is believed that the first jars blown on any given day were blown into cold molds.  The reaction of the molten glass to a cold mold gave the whittly effect we all like so much.  Some people used to think it was because of wooden hand carved molds, but that just isn't true - they would have just burned up upon contact with the superheated glass!    Happy collecting - Tammy


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## JASMINECAG

[] I HAVE SEVERAL RARE BALL MASON JARS. SOME CLEAR, GREEN, BLUE AND THEY ARE PRETTY.


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## Pontiled

Do any of you know the true meaning of the word "Rare"?

 C'mon now, they aren't rare by anyones  imagination.


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## thturk

I don't collect jars but if you do an Ebay seaarch the half pints seem to sell very well.

 Trish


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