Couroc is tough to photograph.  A photo can make a nice tray look bad or a bad tray look nice.  It is hard to tell from a picture.  Having seen hundreds of Couroc trays in person, I have learned what to watch out for.  When you bid on a Couroc tray, consider the following points.  Maybe you can avoid some of the mistakes that I have made.

If you find this helpful, PLEASE take a second to click a box under the “was this guide helpful to you?” section directly under the guide.  It will make me feel like this time was well spent.

The top ten things to consider when buying a Couroc tray:

1. The seller: nothing is worse than watching a tray auction, winning it, paying for it, anxiously waiting for it to arrive and then getting a package that rattles because the tray is in pieces inside the box.  Talk to the prospective seller and make sure that they will pack your tray carefully.  Couroc is not cheap to ship and not easy to pack.  Beware shipping fees that are too low – make sure the seller will take the proper care BEFORE you bid.

2. Dull Finish:  Beware of sellers that spray their trays down with water before taking a picture.  If the surface looks wet, the tray is likely heavily worn.  Couroc is made of a very heavy, high quality type of plastic and must be cleaned gently to avoid a myriad of scratches.  Many people have scoured their trays with harsh abrasives or steel wool resulting in a terribly dull, drab finish.  Once this happens there is little you can do to fix it.  Yes, you can buff it but it is never quite the same.

3. Dirty Trays: Another thing that can cause a dull finish is a thick layer of dirt (or smoke) on the tray.  Not only is this a beast to clean but also it can hide many, many flaws on a tray.  Once the dirt is removed there could be a gem or a dog underneath – it is hard to tell.

4. Warped Trays:  Couroc warped if left on a radiator, stovetop, or in direct sun and heat for a long time.  Does the tray sit evenly on a flat surface?  Sometimes they can be really badly warped and wobble badly.  Certain designs seem to have caused warpage - larger metal inlays that are centered on the tray seem most likely to cause problems.  On the trays with inlaid coins, the number of coins seems to matter; the more coins, the more likely it is to warp.  A certain amount of warp does not degrade the tray.  If the tray sits level on all four feet and doesn't rock, then it should be considered normal warpage.   There is no cure for excessive warpage that I have found for this – well, no safe one.  You can adjust the feet with a little piece of wooden dowel glued into the recess on the feet, or you can use it as a display piece.

5. Sun Damage: If left in the sun for a long time, the varnish on the wood would degrade badly.  If the wood has a “washed out” look or appears kind of white-ish, ask questions or avoid it.  This problem is very pronounced on some later trays, notably the mushroom tray.  Also, the crushed coral will fade if left in direct sunlight too long.

6. Damaged Inlays:  Sometimes the brass will start to pull away from a tray surface – especially on later Couroc trays after Couroc started to cut corners.  Ask if the surface is nice and smooth to ensure that the metal is not raised.

7. Corroded Metal:  If a tray is not well cared for for a long time the tarnish that naturally forms on brass can begin to eat away at the brass.  This “brass disease” is indicated by a rough, raised or pitted surface to the metal.  It cannot be reversed.  In mild cases it can be cleaned up somewhat but the brass will remain discolored.  Another thing to beware is that some Couroc trays seem to have used materials that can corrode each other.  This is very common on anything “glittery”, like some “atomic birds”.  Couroc would use thins like staples for feet that sometimes reacted badly with the glittery areas over the years.  You will see a white, powdery substance on the metal if this is happening.

8. Couroc Seconds:  Couroc had an outlet store.  When a tray was defective but not too defective, they would put a special sticker on it with an overprinted “i” or “2” over the text of the sticker.  This does not mean that it is defective; they sold their overstock and discontinued trays this way too.  Look out for areas where the design inlay overlapped itself or got bent in the molding process.  Sometimes they are not too bad.  This is very common on the seashell trays because of the complexity of the design.  There is nothing wrong with some seconds but an overprinted label (or no label) should make you wary.

9. Chips and Cracks:  I am assuming that most sellers would tell you about obvious ones but alas, it is not always that way.  Ask before you bid.

10. Misrepresentation:  I have seen people describe Couroc inlays as gold rather than brass, copper or something else(Jack Daniels trays especially).  Couroc hardly ever used precious metals!  The inlaid coin design is common and Couroc must have bought foreign coins by the pound.  Couroc made most of these coin trays when our coinage was still silver, so silver was pretty common.  But of the hundreds of coins I have seen inlaid into Couroc trays, only ONE was silver.  It was a tiny Columbian coin and I think it was a mistake.  I firmly believe that they purposely avoided using silver, either buying non-silver coins only or picking out the silver.  Occasionaly, Couroc used a silver colored metal that is clearly not aluminum and has a silver-like look.  It is a nickel-silver alloy - nickel-silver contains NO silver.  If any seller says that the inlay is a precious metal, they are probably embellishing.