20 Rare And Most Sought After Mccoy Pottery [Marks & Values]

After almost 80 years of producing utilitarian and decorative stonewares, it is no surprise that McCoy has a large collection of wares. Ranging from vases, flower pots, and planters to cookie jars, McCoy is definitely highly collectible and very popular amongst antique collectors. If you’re a fan of fine pottery, chances are you’ve heard the name McCoy.

Most McCoy pottery is still sold today because of its excellent craftsmanship. Many people nowadays are looking for rare pieces that they can add to their collection or use as decorative pieces inside their home or office. The following are 20 rare and most sought-after pieces from McCoy pottery:

Top 20 Rare And Most Sought After Mccoy Pottery Price List

No.	McCoy Pottery	Year	Price
1.	Vintage McCoy Pottery Pinecone Tea Set	1946	$194.96
2.	Mccoy Art Pottery Footed Flower Pot	1930s	$195
3.	Vintage Original Rare Stunning Mccoy Green Turkey Pottery	1945	$600
4.	Vintage McCoy Matte Black Cat Pottery Vase Planter	1900s	$500
5.	Brush McCoy Lions Head Jardiniere Green Onyx	1910s	$325
6.	McCoy Art Pottery Ear of Corn Cookie Jar	1959	$350
7	McCoy Indian Head Cookie Jar	1954	$387.81
8.	McCoy USA Mark Bear and Ball Planter Nursery Line	1940s	$140
9.	McCoy Calypso Line Banana Boat Planter Underglaze color	1950s	$130
10	McCoy Pottery Zebra Planter	1950s	$400
11.	Rare Vintage Original McCoy Pottery Large Wide Vase	1900s	$310
12.	Vintage 1940s Nelson McCoy Blue Butterfly Set of 4 Flower Pots	1940s	$199.99
13.	Rare Nelson McCoy Large Basketweave Pedestal in Glaze Coral Pink	1950s	$350
14.	Antique McCoy Multi Glaze V Or Crown Shape Shield McCoy	1900s	$165
15.	Nelson Mccoy Pottery Green Stoneware Mixing Bowl	1920s	$115
16.	Mccoy Pottery Loy-Nel-Art-Vase With Hand Painted Floral Design	1900s	$189
17.	Mccoy Pottery Quilted Jardiniere	1900s	$100
18.	Very Rare Blue Original Nelson McCoy Double Handle Vase Ribbed	1920s	$221.50
19.	McCoy Planter Flower Pot Maple Pink Glaze Ceramic Deco Planter	1930s	$150
20.	1961 McCoy Pottery 101 Dalmatians in a Rocking Chair	1961	$195

1. Vintage Mccoy Pottery Pinecone Tea Set

Year: 1946

Price: $194.96

Entertain your guests with this extremely beautiful 3-piece pinecone McCoy tea set.

The set consists of a teapot that measures 10″ high and 6.5″ wide, while each cream and sugar bowl measures 5.75″ high and 3″ wide. The green and brown colors blend perfectly well and make it a lovely piece to look at. All 3 pieces are marked McCoy at the bottom and are in perfect condition.

2. Mccoy Art Pottery Footed Flower Pot

Year: 1930s

Price: $195

This green footed flower pot is a highly sought-after McCoy piece, with its simple and intricate design it is sure to add color to every space without being overpowering. It is an 11″ x 10.25″ heavy flower pot with a McCoy USA mark at the bottom. It has some light scratches but it is overall in good antique condition.

3. Vintage Original Rare Stunning Mccoy Green Turkey Pottery Cookie Jar

Year: 1945

Price: $600

An extremely unique and rare green turkey cookie jar like this is sure to get attention every single time. It has a textured design, measured at 10″ high, 8.5″ wide and its length is 6.5 “.It is Marked McCoy at the bottom and is in excellent condition. It has no chips, cracks and needs no repair.

4. Vintage Mccoy Matte Black Cat Pottery Vase Planter

Year: 1900s

Price: $500

McCoy products cut across heavily designed wares to very clean and simple wares. If you want to achieve a minimalist look in your space, you should go for this simple 1900s 14″ McCoy matte black cat planter. A must-have for cat lovers, marked McCoy USA at the bottom.

5. Brush Mccoy Lions Head Jardiniere Green Onyx

Year: 1910s

Price: $325

An outstanding and sought-after Brush McCoy green lion head Jardiniere from the 1910s. This piece has a very dramatic design with many patterns and details. In true McCoy pottery glaze style, it has been richly glazed with two tones of green that blend perfectly well. It is from the Onyx line of McCoy pottery and It is marked 116 at the bottom and was sold for $325.

6. Mccoy Art Pottery Ear Of Corn Cookie Jar

Year: 1959

Price:  $350

This lovely bright yellow McCoy cookie jar with kernels all over the body is definitely a good item to collect. It is sure to brighten up every space that it is kept. The green leaves at the bottom compliments this piece beautifully and the corn hairs at the top makes it an exceptional piece. It is a 12″ high x 6″ wide McCoy pottery which is marked McCoy USA” at the bottom.It is in excellent condition with no chips and cracks.

7. Mccoy Indian Head Cookie Jar

Year: 1954

Price: $387.81

Apart from being a bronze color cookie jar, this Indian head cookie jar is definitely a great piece and very detailed work of art and it depicts an interesting heritage. It is marked McCoy USA at the bottom and it is in excellent condition.

8. Mccoy Usa Mark Bear And Ball Planter Nursery Line

Year: 1940s

Price: $140

The gloss on this 1940s cookie jar alone, is enough reason to buy it. It is a very rare Brown planter of a bear and a ball from the Nelson McCoy Nursery line. It has a very lavish glaze which is typical of a McCoy glaze pottery and overall it is in excellent condition. It is marked McCoy USA at the bottom and has an extra sticker attached to it.

9. Mccoy Calypso Line Banana Boat Planter Underglaze Colour

Year: 1950s

Price: $130

This piece shows one of the reasons why McCoy pottery is loved by everyone. Apart from being a planter, the detailed design of a man playing an instrument on a boat makes it an exceptional work of art. From the McCoy Calypso line comes this amazing piece of art. It is an 11″ planter, very rare and in very good condition. It is marked McCoy at the bottom.

10.  Mccoy Pottery Zebra Planter

Year: 1950s

Price: $400

The attention to detail on this Zebra planter cannot be over-emphasized. It is a very rare and highly sought-after McCoy piece because it was only produced for one year between 1956- 1957, so there are very limited pieces of this pottery out there, It is in excellent condition, with no chips, cracks, or any damage at all. It is marked McCoy at the bottom.

11. Rare Vintage Original Mccoy Pottery Large Wide Vase

Year: 1900s

Price: $310

This is a 3-colored beautiful ivory flower vase with light blue leaves, brown rims, and a base. This is definitely a rare, unique, and sought-after piece. It is marked McCoy USA at the bottom. It is an 8.5″ high vase with a width of 8″ and a depth of 3″

12. Vintage 1940s Nelson Mccoy Blue Butterfly Set Of 4 Flower Pots

Year: 1940s

Price: $199.99

This is a lovely blue butterfly 4-piece set of McCoy Pottery. The floral engraving on these pieces make them even better for display. The set consists of 1 Jardiniere flower pot with feet ,1 flower pot with saucer ,2 Jardiniere flower pots,It is marked NM USA at the bottom. It is in good condition and It can be found on the McCoy pottery book volume 1.

13. Rare Nelson Mccoy Large Basketweave Pedestal In Glaze Coral Pink

Year: 1950s

Price: $350

This is a 1950s pink glaze pedestal from the Basketweave line of Nelson McCoy pottery. It comes in a textured design and is marked NM USA at the bottom. McCoy pieces that are marked with NM are extremely rare and are sought after.

14. Antique Mccoy Multi Glaze V Or Crown Shape Shield Mccoy

Year: 1900s

Price: $165

This is a classic multi-coloured Jardiniere pot in green, blue and amber colors which is highly sought-after. It is six- three-quarter inches tall and weighs over 4 pounds. It is in good antique condition and has a McCoy shield mark at the bottom. McCoy pieces with the shield mark are also very hard to come by.

15. Nelson Mccoy Pottery Green Stoneware Mixing Bowl

Year: 1920s

Price: $115

Here you have a green ribbed 1920s, Nelson McCoy, mixing bowl. It is a shoulder bowl with a square base. Beneath it is the Shield mark of the McCoy pottery. It is simple, has a rich glaze and is approximately 5″ tall, and has a diameter of 93/4″. It has a few cracks but it is in overall good vintage condition.

16. Mccoy Pottery Loy-Nel-Art-Vase With Hand Painted Floral Design

Year: 1900s

Price: $189

An extremely gorgeous early piece of McCoy vase from the Loy-Nel-Art with a beautiful shiny green glaze with hand-painted yellow floral design. It has a relatively narrow mouth with an almost invisible handle. It measures 7″ tall with no chips or cracks and is marked 05 at the bottom.

17.  Mccoy Pottery Quilted Jardiniere

Year: 1900s

Price: $100

A very beautiful brown quilted McCoy Jardiniere. Its earthy tone makes it an impressive piece of decoration. It is marked 1488 McCoy USA, from the marks you can see that it was created when the Lancaster Colony Corporation (LCC) bought over McCoy.

It has no chips, cracks, or blemishes and it is 8″ high

18. Blue Original Nelson Mccoy Double Handle Vase Ribbed

Year: 1920s

Price: $221.25

This beautiful McCoy vase is ribbed and has double handles. It has a rich blue color and it is marked McCoy USA at the bottom. It is in good condition and its measurements are 6″ tall x 41/2″ wide at the widest points on the handle.

19. Mccoy Planter Flower Pot Maple Pink Glaze Ceramic Deco Planter

Year: 1930s

Price: $150

McCoy maple pink planter flower pot with ridges and large flower designs. The blend of these two patterns work perfectly well. It is 7″ high ,  7″ wide and 7″ deep. It is in perfect condition with no cracks. It is marked McCoy at the bottom.

20. Mccoy Pottery 101 Dalmatians In A Rocking Chair

Year: 1961

Price: $195

This is a very rare and emotional McCoy pottery. It is a rocking chair holding a loving mother surrounded by her puppies and a yellow blanket covering them. It is heavy, it weighs about 5lbs, it is a 101 Dalmatian art that is 10″ high, 6″ wide, and 7 1/2 deep.

Mccoy History

Roseville was the location of choice because of its rich supply of quality clay.

Apart from producing functional and decorative stoneware, they also mined, bought, and sold clay. This part of the business provided clay to many potteries in the area for many years.

In the beginning, they were focused on only functional products but by 1933 due to a decline in demand for food and sanitary wares and an increase in demand for decorative wares, the pottery changed its name to Nelson McCoy Pottery Co and started producing decorative wares such as jardinieres, umbrella stands, and vases.

The Depression took a toll on the business and in order to survive, it joined with 11 other stoneware potteries to form the American Clay Products Company (ACPC). The company shared all pottery orders among the different potteries according to production capability.

All their products had no trademarks and were presented on sales catalogs. They shared the same marketing and sales programs and shared whatever revenue was received proportionally.

The ACPC was liquidated in 1926 and all members went their separate ways and continued to do pottery. It was in 1929 that the McCoy pottery changed its name from Nelson McCoy Sanitary and Stoneware Co to Nelson McCoy Sanitary Stoneware Co. It was also around this time that it started marking its ware all in a bid to re-establish its name in the market after the liquidation of the ACPC.

The name was later changed to Nelson McCoy Pottery and Co. It passed through many ownership and managements and after operating for almost 80 years, it finally shut down in the 1990s.

The McCoy pottery company made and distributed household ceramics for longer (and probably more widely) than any 20th century American pottery company.

Important History Dates For Mccoy Pottery

No.	Event	Dates
1.	The Nelson McCoy Sanitary Stoneware Company was established	1910
2.	Became a member of the American Clay Products Company (ACPC)	1918
3.	The ACPC was disbanded	1926
4.	Changed its name to Nelson McCoy Pottery Co	1930s
5.	Bought by Mount Clemens Pottery Company	1967
6.	Bought by the Lancaster C Corporation	1974
7.	Bought by Designer Accents	1985
8.	Changed its name to Brush-McCoy	1911
9.	Brush McCoy’s name was dropped	1925

Mccoy Pottery Identification

There are tons of pottery products that are touted as McCoy products but they are not. Some sellers produce fake products that McCoy never produced and they brand it with the McCoy marks.

They specialize in producing molds of popular characters and brand them as McCoy but McCoy never produced these.

Some examples are:

• Little Red Riding Hood
• Donald Duck
• Cinderella
• Daisy Cow
• Snow White
• Puss N Boots

These are just a few, there are many more designs and characters that are fake and can be found on mccoypotterycollectorssociety.org/mccoy-pottery/trademarks

Going through the McCoy reference guides will enable you to identify more of the fakes.

Some other sellers sell what is called reproduction, that is, they reproduce a look-alike mold of an original ware. These are usually smaller and lightweight.

The most reliable way you can identify antique McCoy products is;

• Acquire knowledge ofboth original and fake McCoy products.
• Study and do extensive research on McCoy products.
• Use McCoy reference books

If you do not see the piece you intend to purchase in any of the reference books then it is most likely a fake. You will find very useful material in the Mccoy Pottery Collectors Society

Ask Professionals

Another thing you can do to be able to identify authentic McCoy pottery is to seek the help of others who are very experienced and knowledgeable about the McCoy Company and their products.

Measurements

Seeing a McCoy mark on pottery is not enough to determine that it is original. Many fakes and reproductions actually have marks on them. It is important that you measure whatever piece you intend to get and compare it with an original.

You should measure the height and width and other dimensions of your piece. You can measure the longest part of the piece you are trying to confirm.

Usually, even among authentic pottery, there might be a little bit of difference in the measurements but if it gets up to 6% and above difference in size, then you are most likely looking at a fake product.

The fake is usually smaller and lightweight compared to the original because clay shrinks when it dries up and even much more when it is fired in the kiln.

Avoid buying through private auctions on eBay. Some sellers may hide behind this to sell fake McCoy pottery.

Physical Examination

McCoy pieces are known for quality and they are usually very detailed. They apply glaze generously and their products are usually heavy compared to the fake ones.

Here are some tips that you can use to differentiate original antique McCoys and the fake ones:

• Difference in the color of clay
• Thickness of the layer
• Overall weight
• Glaze type and color
• Existence or extent of bottom glaze
• Shade and quality of cold paint
• Overall size

The Nelson McCoy pottery had a large range of pottery products spanning over 80 years. They released many product lines in different colors. Getting acquainted with these product lines will help you in your knowledge of authentic McCoy products. They had over 100 product lines, below are some of them.

Mccoy Product Lines And Colors

No.	McCoy Product line	Colors	Year
1.	Loy-nel-art	Pastel colors of yellow, light brown, green and blue, all hand-painted green leaves and red berries	1930s
2.	Onyx	Brown, green and blue blended with white	1932
3.	Basketweave	Ivory, blue and green, red and yellow	1938
4.	Novelties (flower holders)	Pastel yellow or green, blue, matte white and gloss pink	1942
5.	Butterfly	Pastel colors of white, yellow, blue, aqua, lavender and pink	1942
6.	Rustic	Ivory, turquoise, brown spray	1945
7.	Lost glaze	Ivory with purple splotches	1950
8.	Arcature	Green burgundy and green on yellow, all with decorated bird	1951
9.	Fruit planters	Natural colored fruits with green leaves	1953
10.	Over drip	Green, shrimp, and black all with white over drip	1955
11.	Brocade	Color combinations of black and pink, cherry and green, chartreuse and green, pink and lime, and black and blue	1956
12.	Sunburst gold	Combination of matte and gloss 24k gold	1957
13.	Pedestal	Gloss colors of white, pink, and green all with decorated Bisque foot	1959
14.	Roseville Flora line	Produced in a very wide assortment of matte and gloss colors	1960
15.	Amber ware	Gloss brown	1962
16.	Swirl	White, orchid, tangerine, black satin, aqua, lemon-yellow, and green	1962
17.	Avocado Capri Drip	Brown and greenish drip around edges	1969
18.	Gold & Silver	Solid gold or solid silver type finish	1973
19.	Fruit Festival	White with the dark brown upper portion and a decal of fruits	1975
20.	Islander collection	White, yellow, pink, blue, and lime green	1979
21.	Stonecraft chocolate & almond	Almond, with two chocolate stripes	1979
22.	Mediterranean	Speckled ivory with two blue stripes	1980
23.	True blue	Solid dark blue	1982
24.	Floral country	White with forget-me-not flower decal	1982
25.	Sahara	White, with two blue stripes	1982

Mccoy Pottery Trademarks

The earliest McCoy products had no marks on them. While they were part of the American Clay Products Company, it was even a policy for all the potteries not to mark their products. It was after the ACPC split, in order to establish its presence in the market space, that Nelson McCoy sanitary stone company started marking its wares.

McCoy pottery changed management so many times and they experienced name changes as well as changes in their trademarks.

• The four photos below are the earliest known McCoy trademarks, they are usually called the shield marks. The first three were cut into the bottom of the clay and the fourth was a blue ink stamp marked on the side of the piece. The numbers in the last three marks represent the size of the piece.

• After it changed its name to Nelson McCoy Pottery Co, in order to gain recognition, a new mark was used around the same time. It was a simple ‘NM’ incised into the piece. It was hand-drawn so there are many variations among them.

• In the 1940s, it went from using the “NM” mark to “McCoy” The pottery also moved from making incisions on their pieces to embossments because, after glazing, the incision marks became too faint. Between the 1940s and 1970s, the marks below show how the McCoy pottery was marked. It also included style numbers on some of its pieces.

• In 1967, after the Mount Clemens Pottery, bought the McCoy pottery. It changed the pottery marks. Below are a few of the marks that were used:

• In 1974, the Lancaster Colony Company purchased the McCoy pottery and changed the marks again. It resumed the use of “McCoy” but included its own initials ‘LCC’ to it.

• In 1985, after Designer Accents bought the McCoy pottery from the Lancaster Colony Corporation, the ‘McCoy’ name was removed from the market. The pottery was usually marked with numbers and ‘USA’ as seen below:

• The Roseville Floralinewas a line established specifically to sell pottery to the florist market. Below are different marks that different potteries who bought the McCoy pottery used:

FAQs

Are all McCoy pottery marked?

No, not all McCoy Pottery are marked, the earliest set of McCoy pottery was not marked. McCoy did not begin marking wares until after the liquidation of the American Clay Product Company as an effort to establish its name in the marketplace.

Is Brush McCoy same as McCoy?

Yes. In 1911, after George Brush became the majority stockholder of the McCoy pottery the name became Brush-McCoy pottery. This Union lasted only until 1918 and by 1925 the Brush-McCoy name was dropped.

Is McCoy pottery worth any money?

McCoy pottery is highly collectible and available at all price levels and the cookie jars are considered to be the most valuable.

Conclusion

In conclusion, McCoy Pottery is best known for its craftsmen and its quality standard being legendary. These pieces are sought after because of their beauty, but that is not all. Many people like collecting them and exhibiting them in the house because of their craftsmanship and the landmark contribution McCoy has made to the ceramic industry.