Mineral Marbles

[drizzlermibs]

I am a very new marble collector and picked up a bunch of these, way out of my knowledge. Are they a "dime a dozen?" Thanks for any info.

 

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[SkaBa]

Welcome to TNet.

Nice marbles.

 

[bigfoot1]

I too would like to learn more about them....welcome to tnet !!

 

[drizzlermibs]

I too would like to learn more about them....welcome to tnet !!

Thank you for the welcome!

 

[Ant]

No they are not a dime dozen, they are collectable but not precious. I like these three, especially the blood agate:



LandOfMarbles.com: Small Mineral Spheres

LandOfMarbles.com: Collector Marbles
View attachment 1235827

 

[Ant]

Almost all of these are the dime a dozen type:

 

[joesmarbles]

Rarity depends on the rarity of the mineral and the size/perfection of the marble itself. Many will come with fractures and or blowholes from imperfections. Sometimes the imperfection will be covered up with a price sticker.....Joe McDonough

 

[kingskid1611]

Welcome to the TNet party. Like your marbles, there are some good ones. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jewelerguy]

most in your picture remind me of the ones my Dad kept from his childhood and those dated to the late 1930's and early 1940's

 

[bradyboy]

I would address 1 marble at a time
you may have money there
I would take the time to go to a marble club site and submit your marbles
Marbles can bring in some nice bucks
What ever you do, don't loose your marbles over it - LOL
Brady

 

[Tnmountains]

Marbles

Try posting it in the marble section. They know their... marbles

 

[drizzlermibs]

Marbles

Try posting it in the marble section. They know their... marbles

Is there a marble section in this forum? I have posted these (and others that I purchased) on a marble forum; but it seems most people there do not collect these types of mineral marbles. I thought perhaps I got "snowballed" by the seller that I got them from and paid too high of a price. I didn't want to sell them to an unsuspecting buyer (like myself!) nor did I want to sell something way under value! I have received one offer on them (what I paid for them) so I will probably just go that route and let someone who enjoys them have them. Thanks to all of you for your input!

 

[sutphin]

NEW MEMBER WELCOME AND THERE IS ALSO A REFRENCE BOOK ON THIS SUBJECT I STARTED TO BUY BUT PASSED IT UP . THE OLD MARBLES ARE COOL AS HECK .

 

[cheese]

Yes, there is a marble forum here... it's part of the bottles and glass forum.

There are old banded agate marbles, and there are new ones. It takes close inspection to tell the difference. Old ones will have many very small facets or flat spots all over the marble that might not be visible without bright light and magnification. This is from the hand grinding method used to make them. The newer ones are pretty much smooth. Old ones have some value. Newer ones have only novelty value.

 

[drizzlermibs]

Yes, there is a marble forum here... it's part of the bottles and glass forum.

There are old banded agate marbles, and there are new ones. It takes close inspection to tell the difference. Old ones will have many very small facets or flat spots all over the marble that might not be visible without bright light and magnification. This is from the hand grinding method used to make them. The newer ones are pretty much smooth. Old ones have some value. Newer ones have only novelty value.

I have put them under a mag glass (I am collecting other mibs and check them all the time); but the facets you speak of are hard to ascertain. I will try again tho. Do you think it is worth posting them on the other forum; or would a picture be unable to capture what you would need to make a determination of their age? Tx for your input.

 

[drizzlermibs]

Yes, there is a marble forum here... it's part of the bottles and glass forum.

There are old banded agate marbles, and there are new ones. It takes close inspection to tell the difference. Old ones will have many very small facets or flat spots all over the marble that might not be visible without bright light and magnification. This is from the hand grinding method used to make them. The newer ones are pretty much smooth. Old ones have some value. Newer ones have only novelty value.

Sorry, I forgot to ask this too....on another forum I read this:
"Some hand ground are done so well they can appear almost perfectly smooth(they aren't)the easiest way to tell a hand ground vs a machine ground is to look at a bright light reflected on its surface while rolling it in your fingers. On a machine ground marble the reflection always stays exactly the same. On a hand ground the reflection will wiggle or dance(change shape) slightly, more so on some.(due to slight variations on the surface) This also works well to tell if a marble has been polished by machine."
Does this apply to mineral "marbles" as well?

 

[cheese]

Yes they are talking about hand ground stone marbles. They are looking for the tiny "facets" that I described. That's why I reccomend using a bright light. Magnification helps too. It will be hard to show in a picture unless you can zoom in very very closely.

 

[drizzlermibs]

Yes they are talking about hand ground stone marbles. They are looking for the tiny "facets" that I described. That's why I reccomend using a bright light. Magnification helps too. It will be hard to show in a picture unless you can zoom in very very closely.

I would like to give one or two a try if that is ok? (I have photographed a mica for ID and that one was pretty tricky...) I will post to the marble sub forum instead of this one though. (BTW, I responded to your pelt pic on that forum. They are beautiful!)