Marks On Pottery

I recently have had a couple customers insist that since a McCoy Pottery piece is not marked McCoy, it is not McCoy. These people insist that all McCoy Pottery items were marked McCoy. Contrary to popular belief by many people, McCoy did not mark every item they produced. In many instances, only a mold number or a USA marking appeared on the piece. Thereare also quite a few pieces that were simply not marked at all. Many of the McCoy cookie jars for example do not have any markings on them. There are ways to tell if it's McCoy. The best way would be to invest in a book on the subject. There are many great books out there on McCoy Pottery. Another way would be to look at it's base. There are three types of bases that are gemon on unmarked McCoy cookie jars.One type of base is unglazedwiththree wedges going across the base. Another type of base is also unglazed with a double wedge on either side of the base. The last is a flat unglazed base with only a mold seem down the center of the base. Wedges or flat bases don't necessarily make it McCoy. Many other potteries also used this same type of base, but it's a good first step in identifying the jar. Do research on okay. It's a very good place to look up items, especially the more gemon pieces. One other thing to note. Just because something appears to be unmarked, does not necessarily mean it's not marked. Most potteries used molds to cast their wares in. Near the end of a molds life, the mold markings tended to not get impressed into the pottery as well as when the mold was new. After the glaze finish is applied to the piece, these pieces tended to have their markings covered up. It's very gemon to find items like this. One technique I use is to dampen the base with a damp sponge. Hold the item up under a bright light. Move it back and forth, up