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So an artifact from first edition resurfaces in Claws of the Tyrant, but is notably weaker, is there a reason for this?
Creative Director
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What level item would be best for characters of each “tier” of adventure to be entrusted with?
The simplest way to do this is to look at an encounter's header—on the right side, it'll say Low 3 or Severe 9 or Moderate 15. The number equates to the expected level of the PCs in that encounter, and thus equals the level of items that should be found in that encounter's treasure. Of course, there's never enough appropriate treasure to always fill out a single encounter's loot without getting repetitive, so you can skew one or two levels above or below that value with comfort.
That said... giving out treasure that's quite a bit higher level than the level (and thus than the PCs' level) is a really great way to hit your players with a sense of wonder and excitement about finding something truly unexpected and amazing. The longer a player plays Pathfinder, the more they'll start to understand the encounter structure, and encountering the same old items at the same old levels gets predictable.
If you keep a throttle on the level of items PCs can purchase, you won't have to worry too much about them just selling a high level item and "trading it in" for something equally high level; this can also dissuade the selling of higher level items to a certain extent. That said, giving out high level items like that works best when it's an item curated toward something your group in particular can use... or something that ANY group could use. Personally, I'm a fan of letting lower level PCs find scrolls of raise dead as big treasures—they feel fun to find, and give you the GM "story insurance" if a bad roll kills a PC and threatens to disrupt the overall story your group's been building.