Vintage York 100 lb Double Sided Vintage Plates

Name: Vintage York 100 lb Double Sided Vintage Plates
Brand: York Barbell
Rating: 4.56 (3 reviews)

These are genuine York Barbell 100 lb plates from York’s “milled era” (roughly the 1960s through the 1980s), not the modern “Legacy” reproduction line York currently manufactures. Like all of York’s standard-line plates from that era, they’re double-sided and identical front-to-back, cast in iron with a 1” center hole sized for standard (non-Olympic) bars and sleeves – a real compatibility limit against most modern racks and barbells. During production, York would machine some plates on a mill to bring them into tighter weight tolerance, leaving a distinctive swirling pattern on the back; only a subset of 100 lb plates received this treatment (via special order), so tolerance isn’t guaranteed on every unit the way it is on a certified modern plate. What makes them sought after decades later is durability: original iron from this period is routinely described as still solid and usable today. They’re no longer in production, so the only way to acquire a pair is secondhand from a collector or private seller – there’s no current manufacturer or retail listing.

Buying guide

Best Weight Plates for Your Home Gym — July 2026 Bumper Plates or Iron Plates? How to Pick Your First Set — July 2026 Do You Need Calibrated or Competition Plates? — July 2026 How Much Do Weight Plates Cost Per Pound? — July 2026 What Weight Set Should a Beginner Buy? — July 2026 Will Dropping Weights Damage Your Floor? — July 2026

Era	milled-era production, roughly 1960s-1980s
Sides	double-sided, identical construction front and back
Material	cast iron
Hole size	1" standard bore (not compatible with 2" Olympic sleeves)
Tolerance	not guaranteed on every unit -- only special-order milled-hub 100 lb plates were machined into tight weight tolerance
Availability	discontinued; secondhand/collector market only, no current manufacturer or retail listing

What is a Weight Plate?

What weight plates are

Weight plates load your barbell — but “plate” covers two very different tools. Bumper plates are rubber discs around a steel hub, all the same ~450mm diameter, built to be dropped from overhead without damaging your floor or bar; they’re the default for Olympic lifting and CrossFit. Iron/steel plates are denser and thinner per pound, cheaper, and quieter to load, but most aren’t made to be dropped — better for slow, controlled powerlifting-style work.

What actually matters

Bumper vs. iron. Buy bumpers if the bar might hit the floor; iron (or rubber-coated iron) for controlled lifts and compact loading.
Weight tolerance. How far a plate strays from its stated weight (±1% is tight, ±3% loose). It barely matters for general training but adds up if you chase a specific total — which is why serious lifters add small change / fractional plates.
Collar fit & bounce. The center hole should fit your bar’s sleeve snugly; rubber durometer (around 88 Shore A) controls how “dead” a dropped plate lands.
Coating & set composition. Virgin rubber holds up and smells less than recycled crumb rubber; plan a starting set (usually a pair each of 45/25/10/5 lb plus change plates) around the lifts you actually do.

Who it’s for

Every barbell gym needs plates. Most home lifters should start with a bumper set, then add iron, change, or specialty plates as a second purchase once they know what their training is missing.

How it compares

	Vintage York 100 lb Double Sided Vintage Plates	Black Sport Bumper Plates	Calibrated Chromed Plates \| Hansu Power	Wright AMP Bumper Plates
GymRadar rating	4.56/5	4.56/5	4.56/5	4.56/5
Price		$90.00	$3,229.00	$71.00
Era	milled-era production, roughly 1960s-1980s
Sides	double-sided, identical construction front and back
Material	cast iron	Rubber (sport) with stainless steel insert		Recycled rubber with stainless-steel center insert
Hole size	1" standard bore (not compatible with 2" Olympic sleeves)
Tolerance	not guaranteed on every unit -- only special-order milled-hub 100 lb plates were machined into tight weight tolerance
Availability	discontinued; secondhand/collector market only, no current manufacturer or retail listing

4.6/5 · 3 GymRadar reviews

Reviews by source

Expert	4.56/5	3 reviews
Youtube	4.5/5	3 reviews

Genuine 1960s-‘80s York Barbell 100 lb plates are milled-era iron that collectors and lifters prize for surviving decades of hard use — “they were made so well and they just hold up,” as Vintage Weights PGH’s founder puts it. Standout dimension: durability, borne out by 40-60-year-old examples still in daily-use condition. Weakest dimension: versatility — the 1” center hole only fits standard (non-Olympic) bars and sleeves, and since only some hubs were factory-milled to tolerance, any given pair’s accuracy isn’t guaranteed the way a certified modern plate’s is. They’re also secondhand-only: no manufacturer or retailer currently sells these new.

+Durability: original 1960s-80s cast iron that "just hold up" after decades of use (Gear Patrol / Vintage Weights PGH)
+Build quality: milled-era craftsmanship brought each plate into tolerance, leaving a distinctive swirling mill pattern on the back (Gear Patrol, YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)
+Value: used-market pricing comparable per-pound to premium new cast iron, plus collector cachet (Gear Patrol)
+Functionality: double-sided and identical front-to-back, so orientation doesn't matter when loading (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)

−Versatility: 1" center hole is incompatible with modern Olympic (2") bars and sleeves, restricting use to standard equipment (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)
−Functionality: narrower grip than modern Olympic plates makes them harder to handle loading and unloading (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)
−Build quality: weight tolerance isn't guaranteed on unmilled-hub examples -- only specially-ordered milled hubs were brought fully into tolerance (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)
−Value: only sourced secondhand from private sellers and collectors -- no manufacturer or retailer sells these new, so pricing and availability are unpredictable (Gear Patrol)