Wanted : Marbles .... update ....

[Monsonant]

Alan , Digger Jeff has ID'd the marbles pretty well . Most everything you have shown is pretty common with the exception of the stripped marble , Jeff described it as a china , but with the dark body color I dont think it is . I have never seen one quite like it . We need a close up or two of that one. It looks like it could be a salt glazed stoneware marble , or possibly a decorated stone (mineral ) marble . If its either of those its a pretty scarce marble . d.e.a.
send another pic of the one next to it in the box also ... does that have a decoration on it also ?

 

[Bottleman]

I just went digging for bottles at a dump earlier today and came out with no good bottles but a pile of machine made marbles. There are 51 of them and about 10 have the same pattern but different colors. I am most defiantly not going to ask you identify each one but I was wondering if you could spot any that may have value. I found them in an area that was from the late 1930s to the 1950s. I went to the dump hopping to find some pontiled medicines but was in the wrong area and it was hard to leave when you are pulling marbles left and right. I took a separate picture of some of the ones that I thought were better. Its hard to tell from the photos but the yellow one and the blue one have a large spiral in the middle.
Thanks for all the information on marbles you guys have given us already, Tom

 

[Bottleman]

.

 

[alan23t5]

here is the striped one. In that pic of the eight lined up what other marble did you want a close up on?


Top of marble

 

[alan23t5]

Bottom of marble

you r right this one is different then the rest of them


let me know what other marbles to get close up picture of.

 

[woody]

Here's an old marble I found while bottle digging.

 

[Monsonant]

Tom , Average age of your marbles is late 20s to 40s Nothing jumps out at me . The yellow one and the blue one in the second picture are average examples of an akro agate corkscrew type called an auger because the way the colored glass looks like an auger "drill " bit . In mint perfect condition I sell these for between $8 & $15 but depending on color and size and degree of twist .. they can go much higher. In the first picture the one above and to the left the yellow auger (bottom center) and the second closest to the right border of the photo might be worth taking another closer look at . Send another photo of those d.e.a.

 

[Monsonant]

Alan , That a great marble ... tough to assign a value to without doing a bit of research first . Its pretty rare . Clays and Pottery marbles are not widely collected yet . Chinas are collected a bit more , most of the interest being in the fancy decorated Chinas ......floral and scenic variety. This means that even though your marble is rare , the value wont be real high , compared to an equally rare glass marble. Send another photo of the one that is with it in the plastic case. d.e.a.

 

[Monsonant]

and finally ..... Woody , (If this keeps up A new forum will be needed ) Your marble is a handmade swirl .. more then likely made in Germany between 1880 and 1910 . Its called a divided ribbon , because the core is made up of individual ribbons of glass . It is one of the most common type of handmades. Size , color and "activity" (this is also called eye appeal , its an over all look that a marble has , the more intricate the design , the more desirable ) determine the value . Common examples have to be very clean , (near mint) to have salability .... but damaged stuff does sell , I save them all up and sell them in lots ....... . The three most common hand made swirls are latticino cores , solid cores and ribbon cores. These are made in whats called "stages" Briefly .... the marbles start out as a cane or rod . The diameter of the rod determines the size of the finished marble . the rods are usually a couple feet long and are constructed by building up layers or stages. Your marble started as a pencil (diameter ) sized clear rod which was heated and then rolled over separate ribbons of glass that were arranged on a work bench . (Each of these ribbons had to be made before hand , some of which consist of several colors) . This would be the first stage . After this another layer of clear glass was applied over the ribbons . this process can go on and on but this takes time , don't forget these were production items and meant to be created quickly as possible. Speed (not artistic ability) was what the Factory owners wanted to see. So because of this most swirls are made up of two stages . Most commonly a central core with outer banding . Your marble has two stages , the ribbon core and another layer of single stands but does not have a outer banding thats commonly seen . The maker must have had intended it to be a three stage marble but never put on the surface banding . There could be many reasons why its not there , your marble could be from the end of the cane , often the ribbons and bands did not run quite to the end of the cane and the last couple marbles from it lacked the decoration that the siblings from the same rod had ..... Most likely the boss showed up while he was making it .... its funny but I am sure this happened all the time . You see examples that took a very long process to create but they were grouped together and sold together with the quickly made examples at no extra premium. You can also find examples that are truly works of art , with perfect symmetry . These may have been made and taken home as gifts or possibly for use on special Gameboards (Solitaire boards they are called in Europe because that's the game that was played on them , this game was often called General Grant in the US ) . As you can see there are many factors that determine a marbles value . Even the most common styles can bring big money. Forgive my rambling ......but I find that many people do find this subject interesting . What I find really interesting is that these marbles were hand made and then imported , yet they sold for about a $.50 -$1.00 a gross (144 ) . That was a little more that the average days wages in those days but I have heard horror stories about the men that made them and how little they were paid to do so. d.e.a.

 

[woody]

That's great, Dave, thanks for the info about my marble.
Very informative.