Antique Bricks More Valuable than Gold Bricks?

Back in 1879, while your great-great-grandparents were building houses with honest-to-goodness clay bricks, a smooth-talking hustler named Reed C. Waddell was perfecting the art of selling fake gold bricks to gullible marks. The scam was beautifully simple: coat a lead brick with gold, let the sucker test the corners (which were actually gold), then skip town with their cash.

The most epic fail? Mr. N.D. Clark, a literal bank president, who dropped $10,000 (that’s $300,000 in today’s money) on a 52-pound “gold brick” in Colorado. The phrase “selling someone a gold brick” became synonymous with getting scammed, and by the early 1900s, “goldbricking” meant pretending to work while actually doing nothing.

Fast forward to today, and the irony is delicious. Those actual clay bricks from the same era? Some are now worth their weight in… well, not gold exactly, but definitely more than you’d think.

The Modern Twist: When Actual Bricks Became Better Than Gold

Here’s where it gets wild. While Victorian-era con artists were painting lead to look like gold, the actual bricks being made during that same period have become genuine treasure. And I’m not talking metaphorically here.

The current market for antique bricks looks like this:

• Basic antique bricks (1800s): $2-$5 each
• Rare shapes (uniform cubes with straight sides): $500-$600 each
• Carnegie firebricks with original stamps: Up to $600 each
• Specialty kaolin clay bricks: $500-$600 each

Yeah, you read that right. A single brick can be worth a nice weekend getaway or a month’s worth of groceries.

What Makes a $600 Brick?

Not all old bricks are created equal. The difference between a $2 brick and a $600 brick comes down to a few key factors that separate the wheat from the chaff (or in this case, the gold from the clay).

Shape Matters (Like, Really Matters)

The most valuable brick shape? Uniform cubes with four straight sides, averaging $500-$600 each. Meanwhile, stepped anvil shapes bring a measly $70-$80. Why? Rarity and specific industrial applications. These weren’t your average building bricks; they were specialized pieces for specific industrial uses.

The Magic of Maker’s Marks

Here’s where brick hunting gets addictive. Manufacturers used to stamp their bricks like artists signing paintings. And just like art, the right signature can make all the difference.

The heavy hitters include:

• Rose Family bricks (Haverstraw, NY): These bad boys came from a dynasty that operated from the 1880s to 1949. At their peak, they cranked out 24,000 bricks daily and had their own freaking town with a zip code.
• Chicago “Union Made” diamonds: That distinctive diamond stamp with “union made” inside? Pure gold. These bricks made from grayish-blue clay that turned salmon when fired are instantly recognizable to collectors.
• Birmingham’s Big Three: Old Bessemer Grey, Old Red, and Birmingham Common bricks are the South’s most expensive specimens.

The Carnegie Firebrick Jackpot

If you find Carnegie firebricks in your walls, congratulations: you’ve hit the preservation lottery. Made by three different companies between 1903-1982, these industrial powerhouses can be worth serious money. Each era has distinct characteristics:

• 1903-1911: White alumina clay with rectangular frogs
• 1912-1943: Cream flint-clay with visible white quartz
• 1943-1982: Cream and gray flint-clay with rounded name plates

How to Tell If You’re Sitting on a Brick Goldmine

Before you start ripping apart your walls (please don’t), here’s how to identify potentially valuable bricks without a degree in masonry archaeology.

Size Does Matter

Historic bricks are like pre-war apartments: bigger and more irregular than their modern counterparts. They typically measure about 8 x 4 inches with prism-like lips and coarse texture. Modern bricks? Smaller, uniform, boring.

The Handmade Test

Bricks made before the 1880s were handformed, which means they have character. Look for:

• Slightly drunk-looking edges
• Straw or organic materials embedded in the clay
• Color variations that look like a sunset had a baby with Georgia red clay
• Iron spots (those dark specks that look like freckles)

The Firing Timeline

Different firing methods can help you date your bricks:

• Sun-dried: Super old school, pre-kiln era
• Clamp fired: 18th to early 19th century
• Continuous kiln: Later 19th century, more uniform color

The Salvage Gold Rush Nobody’s Talking About

Here’s the part that’ll make you look at demolition sites differently: Professional salvage operations are making bank on old bricks. Quality reclaimed specimens retail for $1.00 each when properly cleaned. That pile of 10,000 bricks from a demolished warehouse? That’s $10,000 sitting there.

Major players like Historical Bricks and Experienced Brick & Stone have built entire empires on what most people consider construction waste. They employ specialists who can spot a valuable Rose brick from fifty feet away.

Regional Specialties That Command Premium Prices

Not all regions created equal bricks. Some local varieties are like craft beer: highly sought after and commanding premium prices:

• St. Louis hydraulic pressed: Brilliant red/orange, harder to find than a parking spot in Manhattan
• Chicago Common: That distinctive cream-to-pink coloring
• Detroit Reds: Oversized purple-red beauties
• New England mill bricks: Salvaged from textile mills, tough as the workers who built them

The Collector’s Underground

Plot twist: brick collecting is a legitimate hobby. John Morgan, a retired geography professor, has amassed over 7,500 stamped bricks. That’s not a typo. This man has more bricks than most buildings.

The market operates through:

• Online auctions (with authentication drama worthy of Antiques Roadshow)
• Architectural salvage yards (aka Disneyland for preservation nerds)
• Direct sales to restoration projects
• Specialized dealers who know their Carnegie from their Common

The Authentication Game

As values skyrocket, so does the importance of authentication. Professional restoration projects often require period-appropriate materials, especially for historically significant buildings. Using the wrong brick is like putting a Tesla charging port on a Model T.

Key resources for brick nerds:

• California Bricks database: The IMDb of West Coast bricks
• BrickCollecting.com: Yes, this exists, and yes, it’s awesome
• Regional historical societies: Your local brick whisperers

The Bottom Line: Your Rubble Might Be Retirement Money

The original Gold Brick Gambit was about selling fake gold. Today’s version? It’s about recognizing that some of those old bricks are literally worth more than gold-plated anything.

Before you let your contractor haul away that pile of “old bricks,” take a closer look. Check for stamps, unusual shapes, or distinctive colors. What looks like demolition debris might be a collector’s dream, or funding for your next preservation project.

The best part? While 19th-century con artists had to fake it, you might have the real deal sitting in your backyard. Those humble clay bricks that built America are now building bank accounts for savvy preservationists who know what to look for.

So next time someone tries to sell you a gold brick, tell them you’re good. You’ve got a pile of antique Carnegies in the basement worth twice as much.