Not Lenox, Not Griffith: The Valuable Spice Jar Brand To Look For At Thrift Store

If you're ever faced with boxing up items from an estate, it's important to know that some of the most expensive items you'll come across are hiding in plain sight. Whether it's a porcelain figurine or vintage Pyrex, many valuable items look dated and sentimental, nothing like what you'd expect something to be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars to look like. Some vintage kitchen items that might be worth a fortune include spice jars. However, we're not talking about popular brands like Lenox or Griffith. Instead, look for Danbury Mint's Hummel porcelain spice jars with illustrations of rosy-cheeked children that are brimming with cottage charm.

The Danbury Mint Hummel jars are a collaboration between two companies that produced a spice lineup from 1987 to 1992. They're not as famous as the Lenox Spice Village collection, which is one of the most coveted spice jar sets, but the Danbury Mint collectibles combine the keepsake value of Hummel figurines with an ordinary kitchen item. Each jar features the spice name, a licensed Hummel drawing on the front, and a written history of the spice on the back. The lids have airtight rubber seals, and each jar is trimmed in 24-karat gold. Collectors look for both individual jars and entire sets.

Like many valuable items you can find at the thrift store, the answers to many of your questions are on the bottom. If you find an old spice jar, flip it over to find marks that will authenticate it. Danbury Mint's mark is a "d over an m," and you'll also see the Hummel marks. For example, look for something similar to "M.I. Hummel, ARS AG, Cham, Switzerland, 1987, Made in Japan," which tells you everything you need to know, since the name of the artist behind the Hummel figurines is Sister Maria Innocentia, daughter of Adolph Hummel. She was a German nun in the early 1900s whose artwork became famous first through greeting cards. Later, her figurines attracted collectors and are highly sought after today. The "ARS AG, Cham, Switzerland" is the name of the Swiss company that holds the rights to her original artwork.

Whether you find one jar or an entire set, they're so charming you might end up wanting to keep them for yourself. The entire set included 24 spice jars, plus the wooden rack with a recipe card drawer as a bonus. The jars were sold by subscription only until 1991, when the individual jars became available for $19.75 each. Entire sets in good condition sell for $200 to $300, while some individual jars are worth less than $10. Since the condition is important when you're pricing antiques, if you want to invest in one of these charming sets or even collect them a jar at a time from online auction sites, avoid purchasing anything with nicks, cracks, or chips.