Scrimshaw Marbles?

[I'llhavethat1]

Been thinking about these for a while. Probably part of a larger game set and not some whaling boat. Any ideas where they came from and what they were used for would be appreciated

[Steph]

Size?

Do you think that's a now-banned material?

Interesting.

[I'llhavethat1]

Approx 5/8"

My guess might be bone or maybe Ivory? Or they could be Bakelite but the script looks a lot older so I ask

[flanco]

They could be "peas" numbered balls used in various pool games. Just a guess, never saw any ivory ones before.

[ann]

I think Steph probably meant ivory when she said "a now-banned material." They look like they're old enough -- made or imported before the ban. I forget the acceptable dates, though.

[I'llhavethat1]

Yep, you're probably right. BTW my interpretation of now-banned material = 'dangerous things we used to play with' like Mercury and Asbestos, was in bad form so I edited my other post accordingly.

So - still curious if anybody else has other numbers or knows what these were used for? Would they be numbered up to 16 for pea pool?

[Steph]

Last discussion I remember about Kelly pool said that they had 15 numbered balls.

Then a link was given to this page about magic squares: http://mm.bglances.com/1-08-04-00%20Magic%20Squares.htm