What Number To Look For On Mason Jars For A More Valuable Thrift Haul

Thrift stores can be a great place to find beautiful decor elements and vintage pieces to fill your home, especially when it comes to glassware. Ball Mason jars are particularly plentiful, with many people scooping up these inexpensive finds to use them for everything from traditional canning to fun ways to upcycle glass jars into unique home decor. While they can be inexpensive on the shelves of your favorite thrift store, there are some jars that may be worth more than you imagine, with various factors influencing prices among collectors. The logo and engravings on the jars can help you determine the rarity and relative value of these containers. Mason jars noted with a 13 on the bottom are great to pick up when you see them because they are more valuable. The rarity of these more valuable jars lies in both folklore and the current desirability of them among collectors. 

Rare jars like the inverted jars, misprints, and certain manufacturer marks can increase desirability on the collector's market. These numbers on the bottom indicate a mold number for any given manufacturer, which typically ranges from 0 to 15. The numbers were designed to help during the manufacturing process as an indicator of which settings and placements for that jar's mold were needed when setting up the machine and to help with quality control.

These No. 13 jars are rumored to be rarer and more valuable because they were often destroyed by moonshine makers. The unluckiness of No. 13 may have made bootleggers hesitant to use them for manufacturing and transporting their illegal libations lest they be captured.

This interesting bit of folklore makes them highly desirable to jar collectors and vintage jar aficionados, even if the lore is unproven. Because they tend to get collected and taken out of circulation, their rarity only increases over time. While the value of Mason jars with all numbers varies, No. 13 jars can typically be found online in places like eBay for upward of $40 each. Other factors like glass color, size, lid style, and other manufacturing marks may increase the value of a No. 13 jar, with some, like Ball's No. 13 half-pint jars, exceedingly rare, but still rumored to exist, according to collectors.

If you happen to spot one of these Mason jars, snatch it up. It's certainly one type of Mason jar you'll regret leaving at the thrift store. As such, you may not want to use this particular jar for DIYs that cause permanent changes to the jar with paint or glue. But they can be fun additions to your decor, and there are many clever ways to reuse glass jars. They make charmingly rustic vases or chic storage pieces for small items like craft supplies and bathroom essentials.