Ball Mason Jar Age Chart
The Ball logo changed eight times between 1885 and today — which makes it a fingerprint. Pick the logo on your jar and get its date range, based on the chart published by Minnetrista, the Ball family's own heritage center.
Price data updated June 2026 from recent eBay sold listings.
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Ball Jar Logo Date Chart
| Logo on your jar | Approx. date | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Intertwined "BBGMCo" monogram (no word Ball) | c. 1885–1886 | Buffalo, NY production. The rare one — genuine Buffalo-era jars draw the strongest premiums, even rough. |
| BALL in plain block letters | c. 1895–1896 | Short transitional era before the script logo. Scarce — made for only about a year. |
| First cursive script — thin, slanted, fancy "B" | c. 1895–1896 | The first Ball script logo. Collectible, especially in odd sizes or unusual tints. |
| Script that looks like three L's ("Balll") | c. 1900–1910 | The famous "Triple-L," an artifact of the looping script. Premiums over common jars. |
| Script, dropped "a", no loop on the descender | 1910–1923 | The "Perfect Mason" heyday — most blue "Ball blue" jars are this era. Very common. |
| Script with no underscore beneath the word | 1923–1933 | Underscore and ascender removed. Common; value is in odd sizes, errors and colors. |
| Script with an underscore swoosh beneath | 1933–1962 | The classic mid-century look. The most common Ball jars — most sell for a few dollars. |
| Modern script — bottom loop of the "B" closed | 1960–present | The standardized modern logo. Not antique; worth face value as a canning jar. |
Use the interactive picker above to jump straight to your jar's era, or read the chart directly. Dating follows the chart published by Minnetrista, the Ball family's heritage center.
How Ball Jar Dating Works
Ball Brothers changed its logo frequently from 1885 until about 1962, and each version is documented — the eras above follow the dating chart published by Minnetrista, the museum and heritage center founded by the Ball family in Muncie, Indiana. After 1962 the logo stabilized, so dating later jars by logo alone gets imprecise.
Two Things That Fool Everyone
- The 1858 date doesn't mean 1858. "PATD NOV 30TH 1858" refers to John Mason's patent for the screw-thread closure — it appears on jars made decades later and says nothing about your jar's age.
- The number on the bottom isn't a date. Base numbers are mold-position numbers used for factory quality control. A "13" means mold slot 13, not 1913.
Is My Ball Jar Worth Anything?
Honestly: most aren't worth much. "Ball blue" Perfect Mason jars from 1910–1923 survive in enormous numbers and typically sell for a few dollars to $20. Value concentrates in the pre-1900 eras (BBGMCo, block letters, early script, Triple-L), unusual colors (amber, olive, true cobalt), odd sizes, and error jars. See verified sold prices in our antique mason jar value guide.