Marble Help?!?!?!

[brianwi]

Can someone please tell me something about this marble. My brother found it while we were detecting road construction!

 

[brianwi]

Here is a different look

 

[woody]

I believe it is a clay marble made in Bennington, Vt.

 

[Maine Digger]

Woody is right on the money...that's a very nice sample of a Bennigton glazed clay marble. The 'eyes' are from where the marbles touched each other during the firing / glazing process. From your picture, your's appears to be the 1-3/4'' size, in good condition, they can fetch $50. Really nice find[]

 

[KentOhio]

It's called a Bennington, alright, but there's really no evidence that they were made in Bennington, Vt. People used to think so, but not anymore. The name just stuck.
I don't think yours is that big, is it? One in about 1/2 inch size, which I think yours is, unfortunately is very common and worth about $1.00. They also come in blue, blue and brown, and occasionally green or pink.

 

[woody]

With a little research I did find this on an internet marble collecting site.

"Bennington marbles are a type of glazed clay marble. They are not very dense. The marbles are fired clay with a salt glaze on them. Benningtons are readily identifiable by both their coloring and the little "eyes" that they have on them. These are spots where the marbles were touching each other while they were being fired, resulting in those spots being uncolored and unglazed. The term "bennington" is actually a misnomer. There is no evidence that they were ever made in Bennington, Vermont, or that they have any lineage to the Bennington pottery that they resemble and from which they get their name. It appears that all Bennington marbles were imported from Germany."

That sheds a little more light on the subject.

 

[Maine Digger]

Brian, what's the dimensions of the marble? I might have been thrown by the enlarged photos[8D]

 

[brianwi]

Wow, thanks for all the posts. I dont really know how you measure it but it looks about 3/4 inch, definitly bigger than 1/2 inch. Also, the "eye" actually kind of sticks out and there is only one on the whole marble. Wouldn't there usually be 2, unless it's an endpiece?
Here are pics of the "eye." As you can see it "sticks out" alittle on top.

 

[brianwi]

Judge the size for yourself!

 

[diggerjeff]

a 3/4 - 1'' brown bennington has a value of about $1.00 in mint condition. robret block 3rd edition. 1999.