Tags
Fiesta, Fiesta plates, Fiesta ware green, Fiestaware, Forest Green, green fiesta, HLC, HLC R, Homer Laughlin, Homer Laughlin China, Identifying Fiesta ware, Identifying marks on fiesta ware, Medium Green, Shamrock Green, thrift store finds, thrift store score, thrifting, Tom and Jerry mugs
I ended up at a thrift store this weekend, my main purpose was to buy an appliance, but while I was there I took a couple minutes to look at the glassware. I saw a few older gold rimmed plates from Germany with fruit on them I liked, not sure if they are worth anything but I figured for $1 each I would get them. I also bought a bud vase which was pretty for $2. And lastly, I found a set of Fiesta ware.
The set was complete and in excellent LIKE NEW condition. The set consisted of 4 x Tom and Jerry mugs, 4 x bowls, 4 x salad plates, and 4 x dinner plates, 16 pieces in all. The price wasn’t even marked. I asked someone and they told me it was $15 for the set. The color – green. I had no time to really inspect them, I checked the bottom of one cup and the bowl, and it was marked HLC Fiesta USA. When I was ready to check out, the guy said the price was actually $12! Score. I figured no matter what they are worth, $12 for a service of 4 was an excellent price. That’s only .75 cents per piece.
I tried looking up Fiesta ware markings online, at that point I had only looked at the bottom of the bowl and the bottom of the mug. I was wondering how old they were. It’s hard to tell the greens apart, especially three of the greens called Medium Green, Shamrock Green, and Forest Green. If it was either Medium Green or Forest Green that means they were going to be older and would have lead in the glaze. If it was Shamrock Green, they started making that color in 2003 until 2021. If the bowls and cups were marked the same as the salad plates and dinner plates it wouldn’t have caused all this confusion. I can see how frustrating this can be to people. Comparing colors on videos or photos is difficult, especially for someone who is a newbie. Or especially if you are looking at the cups and bowl, as you can see below, all three pieces have different marks.
I watched a bunch of videos trying to learn more about the Fiesta ware marks. Here where it is very confusing, the markings on the bowls and cups are different than the salad plates and plates!
I looked them up at Etsy, eBay, and searching online, no one mentions how the markings in the set have different marks. So, it took me hours before I unpacked the dishes and tried looking at the salad plate and dinner plate, once I did it all became clear. I was looking at a set of Shamrock Green. On the salad plate and dinner plate there was the stamp I was looking for, it had the date code and I was able to reference it online. They were made in 2006 – April/May/June. Viola. There we go, exactly what I needed.
Now, I was able to look up the Shamrock Green 16 pc set, which is selling for $179.99 on eBay. Amazing.
The fun of thrifting is getting a bargain and I think I definitely did that. I figured since I couldn’t find anyone mention this problem with the cup/bowl markings vs. plate markings, maybe this can help someone else and save them a few hours time if they know to look at the plates first!