Value

What are rusty weights worth?

The value of anything is relative to its desirability and scarcity—basic supply and demand. 

This applies universally to new goods as well as collectibles. 

Collectibles are generally defined as objects amassed as part of a hobby or as a form of investment. Art and cars are straightforward examples. Stamps and rusty iron less so. 

So how should old iron be valued?

It again boils down to supply and demand. 

The supply part is easy to understand, though not always as easy to quantify. For example, we have learned through personal records that approximately 700 Jackson 1a weight sets were produced over the years. Unfortunately, these types of accurate historical archives seldom exist. 

As in any industry and hobby, many factors affect the demand. These include an item’s historical and cultural impact, scarcity, and general appeal to collectors. 

The Iron Guide establishes a new framework for evaluating iron across decades, the Iron Rating. 

The methodology includes extensive empirical research, data gathering, anecdotal evidence, collector sentiment, and first-hand market experience. Additionally, original literature dating back to the early 1900s was reviewed and analyzed across publishers and niches.

The culmination of this work was the creation of the five categories and values that make up the Iron Rating. 

All values were awarded in a silo and evaluated compared to bedrock specimens. For example, it is universally accepted that the first-generation Jackson plates are extremely rare. As such, they were awarded the highest value possible in the Scarcity category, and every other plate was evaluated relative to that standard. 

A similar approach was used in all other categories. 

Market transactions were examined to account for outliers and general volatility. While every effort was taken to remove subjective factors, it is understood that the values can never be exact. As such, the ranges and value groupings are qualified guidelines. 

Ultimately, this is a product of the collector community at large. The community’s input over time in the form of engagement, market transactions, and overall sentiment has contributed to this directly or indirectly. 

The Iron Guide will evolve over time.