That Old Candy Dish Your Grandma Owned Could Be Worth Hundreds

We all know that grandma's house is filled with treasures. From lace curtains and handmade quilts to framed portraits and a chest filled with vintage Merry Mushroom dishes, a home packed with keepsakes is a sign of a life well lived. And who among us hasn't reached into one of our grandmother's delicate glass candy dishes for one of those weird chalky mints or a Werther's Original? If you've ever admired those dishes as an adult, be sure to take a closer look if they get passed down to you because they could now be worth a few hundred dollars. Depending on when the dish was made, and what type of glass, there are plenty of antique glass connoisseurs out there hunting for unique pieces. If the dish happens to be a "hen on nest," which is a glass hen perched on a matching dish that looks like a basket, you could have your hands on a piece that's worth quite a bit more.

Of course the key to figuring out if your grandma's candy dish is a collectible is pinpointing when it was made (remember, vintage is not the same as antique) and who made it. Well-known manufacturers like Indiana, Fenton, and Westmoreland made chicken-shaped candy dishes that can fetch quite a few dollars in online auctions. Midcentury pieces like those from Anchor Hocking and Hazel-Atlas are more common, but can also be worth a few hundred dollars, especially if they're rare like uranium glass.

If you're lucky enough to get your hands on a hen in a nest (or an HON to collectors), it's pretty easy to check its value. Do a Google reverse image search first to see if you can find an exact match to the piece you have on hand. That should give you a quick ballpark idea of how much glass dealers are asking online. Don't get fooled by the asking price, however. Many antiques dealers place their pieces on the internet at the highest price and assume that people will make an offer. To get an idea of how much they're actually selling for, copy the name of the piece into eBay's "advanced search" function and filter for sold items. This search will show you the final prices that buyers are willing to pay. Comparing multiple listings of the pieces that are similar or the same as yours will give you a much better idea of your piece's general market value.

Keep in mind that glass pieces lose their value pretty significantly if they have any damage, so make sure to inspect it carefully before you buy or sell a hen on nest. Run your finger around the edges to check for any small chips or cracks that your eyes might have missed, and make sure the top fits snugly into the bottom — you'd be surprised how many mismatched hens and nests there are out there!