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Friday, March 24, 2023

3/25/23 Report - Marbles - Another Kind of Treasure That You Can Find. Art, Artifact, History and Mystery.


Written by the TreasureGuide for the Vintuse of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Vintage Marble Find.

When you are metal detecting you might other kinds of things.  I've talked about many of those before.  Among those other things are marbles, which are collectable and can have good value.  I've found probably fifty or more vintage marbles over the years while looking for other things.

Although I've found a good number of marbles, I haven't leaned much about them, and I've been finding that. like with other th.ings, there is a lot to learn. Of course you find more of the common ones than the more valuable ones, but you have to learn to tell the difference.

My most interesting marble find so far is the blown swirl marble that I showed on Jan. 6 of this year  (Treasure Beaches Report: Pt. 2. (2020 and Beyond). : Search results for swirl marble (tbr2020.blogspot.com)  If that one was in better condition, I'm pretty sure it would have been worth hundreds of dollars.  That is more than you will get for many Spanish cobs.

Anyhow, wanting to learn more about my marbles and how to date and evaluate them, I found what appears to be an excellent and detailed article, but I learned very little from that article.  I think I would have gotten more from it if there were more photos and illustrations.  I'm sure it was a good article, but I needed something more basic.  I did however pick up a few things from reading the article and decided to take a better look at the marbles I found.

I learned that some old marbles will fluoresce in ultra-viloet light.   I've previously posted investigations of various artifacts that will fluoresce under blackk light.  That included some gem stones, fossil shells and an especially interesting example of sea glass that I found a number of years ago.  That was an especially intriguing story that took me years to unravel.

Red Uranium Sea Glass.

As it turns out, that particular piece of sea glass probably came from a reflective lens from a buoy.  It took me years to learn that.  See The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 9/23/15 Report - One Way To Add Value And Interest To Your Treasures. North Carolina Beaches Producing. Sea Glass Web Sites for more of that story.  It was viewing that glass under ultraviolet light that gave me the critical clue. 

So, as I was saying, I just learned that some old marbles will fluoresce too.  That is something I could investigate, so I did.  Below is one example.


Same marble under LED light (left) and ultra-violet light (right).

I just learned that marbles have seams.  You can see where the seam is on the one below.  

Another View of the Same Mable Showing The Seam.


Here is a quick video showing a group of marbles under ultraviolet light.


Vintage Marbles Being Viewed In Ultraviolet Light.

As you can see there are a few that fluoresce.  I can't say for sure that those are older or much of anything else about them.  I need to learn more about that.

There is a lot I need to learn.  Some hand blown marbles, like bottles, show a pontil mark.  There are a variety or makers, which can be identified, and there are a variety of types, and of course, ages.  I have been doing some reading and research, but haven't learned a lot yet. 

Here are just a few more photos of vintage marbles that were found while I was out looking for other things.  

Closeup of Larger Marble Showing Numerous Chips.


As with other collectibles, condition is important with marbles too.  I have a couple that have been rolled in the surf so long that I think they would more accurately be called sea glass.






A knowledgable collector would probably be able to quickly identify the maker of this marble and give a date range.

I found some marbles that appeared to have a painted metallic layer on the surface, but on closer inspection, this is what I saw.


Shiney Flakes On Marble Surface That Looks Like Glitter.


Hexagonal Flakes on Marbles Surface.

So another mystery steps forward.  What caused these flakes or crystals that appear on about a half dozen marbles that I've found that were once submerged - and probably for many years?  I no longer believe they wee part of the surface of the manufactured marble and probably not painted on as I once believed.

You can look into the marbles like you can look into diamonds or gem stones.  If you do that well, sometimes you can see how the glass flowed.  On blown marbles, you can tell how the glass blower moved the glass just from how the color swirls too.



The next video is quick, but at the end you can see waves in the glass.




The small black donut shape you see on some of the clear marbles, I think are lighting artifacts.  I should have washed them before taking the photos.

Just a couple more marbles for today.  Besides be toys and collectibles, I think some are especially pretty.








One thing to remember is that some marbles can be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars, so if you might not want to skip marbles.  Besides that, they can be old and interesting.  The older marbles are not always the most valuable.  Old clay marbles, for example, are pretty common and not as desirable to collectors as many more recent examples.

In the past day or two I've learned a little about them but need to learn a lot more.

Here are a couple good reference links.


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The surf is now down around three feet.  We are having some nice low tides though.

Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

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