This jar with original lid ( which is the only way of identifying the jar)...showed up at the Morristown TN. show 2 years ago...Wayne & June Lowry took the l'il rascal home with big grins on their faces...
This is listed in Red Book of Fruit Jars #9 as Red Book # 1765.
Mason's Pat. June 2 1857 (on lid)
Ground lip Mason shoulder seal
Very small jar with squarish shoulders
Lid is slightly dome shaped, brass, and embossed with flowers and leaves along with the date.
Closure value: 90%; possibly a Crowley salesman sample.
Very nice little jar. Red Book # 11 lists the value at $350.00 - $500.00
You should contact Greg Spurgeon at North American Glass.His latest on-line auction just ended late last week, but he should be having another auction in a couple of months.
I've dug one of these here in Texas. Honestly didn't think much of it...it appears to be a cosmetic jar with a lid that has the Mason marking on it...guess I should have grabbed it in the pick. Lids seem to hold up well. I'm surprised it is being classified as a fruit jar.
The reason it is in the Redbook is that the date on the lid is the date of a patent issue to John L. Mason for a procedure to cut threads in thin metals. It precedes his Nov. 30th 1858 patent date on the mason jars later.