Chrome Griswold #4

StephenH

Member
I went to an auction sale this weekend and saw a Chrome Griswold #4 skillet. Only had a minute to check it out, and, being that I'm a "user" more than a "collector", didn't get to serious about it.

Couple questions: I've never seen a chromed skillet before, so are they more collectable? Second, did the chrome wear off? This piece looked as though this were the case, rather than having a crud built up area in the center (about 2 inch dia area in middle of bottom), and what looked like scratch marks at the angle of the flat and the sides.

I did stay long enough to see it sell to an on-line bidder for $25. Which, in my uninformed opinion, was a good price.

thanks,
Stephen
 
I think the issue with plated pieces is they are rarely fully plated anymore. If they are mint with no plating issues, they are more collectable and expensive. If they have plating issues, they are much less collectable and expensive. This is what I've observed.
 
I know there is a seller on ebay that has done like 18 coatings of seasoning over plated pieces... effectively making them 'appear' to be regular iron...and avoiding the issue of 'ugly' and patchy/missing plating... does anyone here have any ideas about 'un-plating' a plated piece.. which in the current market seems to make it more 'valuable' as a big logo 4 in plain iron would usually sell for closer to $70 rather than $25.
 
I usually avoid plated pieces at all costs but over the past few weeks I have picked up four. Some were fully painted and others I missed the tell-tale signs due to my awe of a rare piece.

Steel wool did nothing to loosen intact plating and I can’t bring myself to try more aggressive methods. When I have resorted to sandpaper for impossible to remove carbon residue it has always led to color differences in seasoning.

I will likely just gift these pieces as users and eat the loss. If anyone has better ideas I would love to know.
 
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