The Vintage Cooking Tools That Could Be Worth Over $1,000
Everything in your home holds some sort of value; you need go no farther than your local Facebook marketplace to find everything from crossbows to cookware sold to the highest bidder. Even copies of cookbooks are actually worth tons of money, with Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" selling for over $2,000. But these books may not be the only item of value sitting above your stove, with one classic piece of cookware selling at auction for outstanding amounts. You may just need to sell a few of them to fund a kitchen remodel and upgrades that boost your home's resale value.
Vintage French copper cookware is considered a gem in the culinary trading space. The pans are often seen on Pinterest boards and touted as a keystone of Martha Stewart's kitchen. Even after Stewart was charged in one of the most outrageous insider trading busts ever, she has boosted the popularity of the pans. With wide production runs and centuries of history, French copper pans and surviving dishes are widely variable in their price, but last year a set sold for $1,900 at auction. Weston Table also lists copper dishes for similar prices, with small pans selling for $645. Importantly, the age and thickness greatly influence the valuation of copper pans, for both historical and practical reasons.
Copper has a valuable history as one of the oldest forms of cookware
The history of copper used for cooking dates back to the Bronze Age, with the Roman Empire using copper to create steamers and frying pans. The French began producing copper cookware by hand in the 1800s and turned to industrial manufacturing during World War II. The quality and aesthetic of these pans have grown in popularity ever since, bolstered by the cooking of both Julia Child and Martha Stewart, both of whom sang the praises of the post-war French export.
It is partly because of the popularity of both cooking moguls that some of the highest valued French copper items, by price per pound, are French trout pans. One collector even paid an average price of $139.78 per pound for their trout pans. The size and style of the pan is often an indicator of the time period it was made, with the handcrafted period of French design outlined by a thicker pan. Additionally, many true French copper pans created after 1960 should have a "Made in France" stamp as a requirement as a member of the European Union. While iconic designs and limited availability can change the price, ultimately, the trend is that the older the piece, the higher the value.