Why Skillet #13 Is the Rarest Number in Cast Iron (The Superstition That Backfired)

Foundries were afraid of the number 13. So they made fewer pans with it stamped on the bottom. And that fear turned one of the plainest skillet sizes ever cast into one of the most valuable pans in American cast iron. A common Griswold #8 sells for forty to a hundred dollars. A Griswold #13, same company, has sold for around two thousand, with some reported well past six thousand. I checked how much of the superstition story is actually documented versus repeated collector lore, and it's not as clean as the antique mall version. I also checked why #20 is called just as rare with no superstition attached at all, which complicates the theory more than most videos on this admit. What's covered: what the size number actually means and why a "13" was never a 13-inch pan, what's confirmed about the superstition claim versus what's just widely believed, why #20 breaks the tidy version of the story, what a real Griswold and Wagner #13 actually looks like across logo eras, the fake and reproduction problem on a pan worth this much, and where collectors actually verify one against documented examples instead of trusting the rust. I dig up value where nobody's looking, and I don't repeat a good story just because it's good. Every price here is checked against real listings and sold examples, and I say plainly where the evidence runs out and the lore takes over. Got a big skillet in the house you've never flipped over? Check the number tonight and tell me what you find in the comments — especially if it's a 13 or a 20, tell me the logo style too. Correct me if I got something wrong here. This channel's comments are usually smarter than the video. New finds, new tests, and a few things I'm still trying to identify myself — every week. #castiron #griswold #antiques #barnfind #collectibles