In laws cast iron

So I am at my in laws for the holidays and happened to notice a few of their cast iron pans. They have a wagner, national, and unmarked. Apparently they got them at a great grandfathers auction for about $10 (for all three) cause no one wanted them. Anyways I was curious if anyone knows what the unmarked #7 is? I've linked to the pictures. There are also the pictures of the national on here. Thanks and happy holidays

https://picasaweb.google.com/109535...authkey=Gv1sRgCMuF3KCyjPix5gE&feat=directlink

Your single spout #7 is an older piece, mid-1800s I would say. Around the advent of woodstove use, you started seeing pieces with smaller feet being produced, since their use was intended for a relatively flat hearth or stovetop, as opposed to a fire. Exactly who made these pieces is often not able to be determined; sometimes the design gives clues to region or country of origin. Here's another similar to yours:

http://www.castironcollector.com/forum/showthread.php?t=267

With the gatemark on the bottom, and the numerous casting flaws, your National is what's called a "recast". Someone used an actual National skillet as a pattern to create a mold to cast the piece.

Your unmarked single lip skillet is similar to many I have that seem to come from the PA and MD areas. I would date them c.1870s to later, not before the Civil War. A number of different foundries made similar pans for many years.

Thank you Doug and Steve. They had no idea the pan was so old! Step-mom in law didn't know cast iron pans were valuable as collector items. Said that old unmarked pan makes the best cornbread you can find. They were only slightly weirded out that I belong to a forum about cast iron. Lol :icon_thumbsup:

Doug, regarding the national..so you mean it is a "knock-off" so to speak? Someone took the national as a mold and then made there own to sell? Because I'm pretty sure that pan is fairly old too

Recasts could have been produced at any time after the creation of the original pan used to make them. Therefore, it could have been made as a knock-off in the 1920s in the case of this piece, or, alternatively, nothing more than perhaps a high school metal shop class project anywhere from the 1920s to the present.