This we call the Regulator Weight. Also see Windmillers Gazette XIV no. 3 summer 1995. The Evolution Of Collecting As old mills wore out or were destroyed by storms, farmers and ranchers would often save a weight because of its appealing nature or its useful characteristics. Early collectors of smaller collections were usually older men of farm background who found them in their neighborhood or at farm sales.
Any writing is a factor and they place a lot of emphasis on old weathered paint.
This old paint is almost never from the windmill factory but came from the weight being decorated for an ornament or in a more recent repainting of the windmill. In the hundreds of weights your authors have seen, we found only one with an original paint job. It was from an old parts bin and had never been used on a mill. If Your Concern Is The Antique Weight, Read This. Assume that most of the popular and more expensive weights have been reproduced.