A seeming mystery noticed on a #6 Wagner skillet

[Carol Fox]

I have done LOTS of research on this and am hoping someone here can explain because it's driving me a tad nutty. 

I have a #6 WagnerWare skillet with "stylized" logo (shared W for both words, etc.).  Research says that Wagner began using that style of logo in 1920-22.  The skillet also has the number 6 as usual, but it does NOT have the 4-digit pattern number (1056 for the #6) which appears on Wagner's skillets as of 1922.  So that would lead one to assume my skillet was probably made in some window of time between 1920-1922  after Wagner had started using the stylized logo but before it started using the 4-digit pattern numbers. 

Trying to price mine for sale but hoping to find an exact match at first but then morphing into my own curiosity, I've looked on eBay, Etsy, etc. and I mean LOTS of photos.  Not one single other skillet have I found that has the stylized logo without also having the 4-digit pattern number.  Not one.

Now adding to that oddness, I also began noticing that those same other skillets don't seem to have a heat ring. (Huh?)  There were parts of some photos where an area appeared like it might be a heat ring but mousing up over elsewhere on the photos, I saw only rounded edges and quite clearly - no heat ring.  I didn't find one that did have one.  Research said that in this same time period Wagner had also introduced its smooth-bottom version (no heat ring) but to find none others that had heat ring?  My #6 skillet has the outer heat ring just like my other "straight block" Wagner #10 has.  Loud and clear.

And lastly, the photos of the other ones had the old style handle where the underside has a rib formed in the center.  However I noticed that all their ribs had a flat spot.  The rib on mine stays ribbed until it comes to a thin point.

So in summary, stylized logo BUT unlike all others found...

1.  No 4-digit pattern number, only the old style #6 alone.
2.  Has heat ring where other like skillets don't seem to.
3.  Has full-rib old style handle, not flattened at the base.

Does anyone know anything about these differences, and do these differences add "oddity" value to my otherwise innocent looking WagnerWare skillet from a collector's standpoint?  I would so much appreciate any light that could be shed on this, if nothing else, just from a pure curiosity standpoint. 
Thanks in advance!

[Josh Rodgers]

Hi Carol, photos of the top and bottom would be helpful. But based on your description it looks something like the image attached below? If so, this falls in the 1922-1924 range before they replaced the size number with a catalog number. The went to smooth bottoms starting in 1935. I don't have much to add on the price.

[Carol Fox]

Hi Josh, yup, it looks just like that except it has 6 instead of 8.  I didn't do photos because I described each marking I was referring to but I was pretty sure I'd read that the 4-digit numbering took place simultaneously with the stylized logo.  That's why I was surprised to not find ANY #6's out there without the 4-digit pattern number.   

[Josh Rodgers]

I'm not an expert but I always refer to http://www.castironcollector.com/trademarks.php and http://www.castironcollector.com/unmarked.php.

Also, while descriptions are good even if you think you are describing every feature photo's can still be much easier to identify especially since there may be other features that may be missed.

[Russell Ware]

It's not just the markings on a skillet that determine the selling or buying price. It is the condition. You'd be hard pressed for someone to quote a valuation without seeing the piece. There are plenty of "rare" pieces on ebay right now that are cracked, broken, or pitted. They are not selling due to the condition they are in.
The size 9 and larger skillets bring the best value. A 2 or 4 would also. Sixes aren't that rare for Wagner.

[Carol Fox]

Hi Russell--  I wasn't looking for a valuation as much as to figure out how my pan could have that combination of markings since I completely mis-read that the 4-digit pattern numbers started simultaneously with the logo change.  Until I reread that part and discovered my error, it drove me nuts. 

I do have another skillet that I will, however, need opinion on for evaluating though since it's a gatemarked piece with an elongated single pour spout and an offset heat ring and a sort of campy shaped handle.  Will post it here at that point. 

Much appreciate this forum.   :) 

[Russell Ware]

Trying to price mine for sale but ..

I can only respond to what I read. Perhaps the "General Information" Board would have been a better place to make this post than the "How much is my item worth" Board.

[Carol Fox]

I can only respond to what I read. Perhaps the "General Information" Board would have been a better place to make this post than the "How much is my item worth" Board.

Hi Roger -- Ah, I see your point.  I picked that board because it seemed the one where people describe what they have.  This does seem a better place for my question.   :)