# Amber Lightning, MINT! Fake?



## bikegoon (Nov 18, 2006)

Today I saw a very nice amber lightning, glass lid and near perfect bail.
 Read Putnam on the bottom,
 He had a price of $59.00 on it and as I was walking he dropped his pants to $15.00.
 Looking on eBay and looking thru my books....woof this pup goes for pretty penny.
 It looked legit to me, except the bail was so....nice looking is the word, no rust and clean as can be. and the thing did not have one flaw.....
 Were there repro's out there?
 This is an Ebay auction, not mine but it the same looking type of jar I found today, this is an example.
http://cgi.ebay.com/AMBER-TRADE-MARK-LIGHTNING-FRUIT-JAR-HALF-GALLON_W0QQitemZ190053201827QQihZ009QQcategoryZ13913QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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## GuntherHess (Nov 18, 2006)

$15 would be a good buy for a real one, if its the one I am thinking of with ground lip i believe it goes for about $40-50. Of course I am not a fruit jar expert.
 There is a quart amber smooth lip repro listed in RB9.  
 Brand new looking bail wire is always suspicious.


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## bobclay (Nov 19, 2006)

Hi bikegoon,

 Is the base embossed PUTNAM 227? If not, it's real. If it IS embossed PUTNAM 227, then read this article on how to spot the Lightning repros:

 http://www.fruitjars.com/ref/articles/news.asp?article=4

 Bob Clay


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## bikegoon (Nov 19, 2006)

Wow...Big help!
 It is embossed with the Putnam 227...


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## jarsnstuff (Nov 19, 2006)

At least for $15.00, you didn't get ripped off  even assuming it's a repro.  There are "real" lightning jars with the base embossing 227, but if yours has a smooth lip that's a sure giveaway for a repro.  Also, the lid that comes with the repro doesn't have any legible embossing on it - so there's a couple more things to look for..... -Tammy


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