York Vintage Olympic Deep Dish Marked

The “modern” York deep-dish plates are among the most iconic and enduring designs in weightlifting history. As the final evolution of York’s earlier designs, they were produced for several decades. Featuring rounded edges and a hub-and-spoke design extending to the plate’s edges, they balanced form and function perfectly. The variation marked with “45” has a slightly shallower hub, with production believed to have occurred in the mid-1950s for a limited time. Unmarked deep-dish plates were sold both before and after this period. The deep-dish 25s and 35s, also produced for a limited time, are considered some of the finest designs ever made. It’s unclear why York ceased production and returned to flat plates. The smaller plates in this series followed earlier designs but were marked with weight.

Buying guide

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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.