Ric

A little early but . . .

Metallic Bruiser:

What do you think?

Just a couple of purty patches: I just can't pass up that raspberry color on a Vitro.

These are the Cairos from Everett Grist's Big Book of Marbles (3rd ed., 2006) Plate #209, p. 97.

Some of that dirty Vitrolite in a Jackson:

Cool snakeskin - it's a first for me. Some crazy Conquerors:

Nice gold-colored AV on that one! Santa Clause?

Nothing weird about it - that's a dandy Rainbo!

My strongest thought is transitional, Steph, I would just like to see both poles of the marble before I go all in.

That sort of black is not common on these Vitros, which is why they may have tried to clean it up.

It's an oddball, but it doesn't strike me as a messed-up corkscrew - it sort of looks like a transitional but . . .?

I think you are right, Chad.

Tommy, I think this is an unpolished example of that middle Vitro.

Speaking of facets . . . years ago, I got lucky and found this original. View of town Oberstein, bridge and Crag Church, and view of the agate and jasper gemstone polishing mill. Hand-colored steel engraving from Felix-Edouard Guerin-Meneville's Picturesque Dictionary of Natural History, Paris, 1834.

It's a good thread Mibber, but if you're gonna bump a six-year old post with no comment, you should at least show us a marble. ☺️

I think one of the best ways to pretty easily distinguish a hand-ground one is to but a bright light on it and rotate it slowly. If the point of light sort of flickers or appears to jump around a bit, it's probably because of the facets on the hand-made ones. Machine-ground made ones will not show the same. I don't usually need magnification to see this effect.

I agree. 🙂 The second looks Jabo-ish to me.

I agree, except maybe on #1 - I think it might be an odd swirl or even a Vacor. And if #4 is not Alley, I'd say it's a red slag with way too much white in it.

Hand-ground agates are awesome. They were kid's prized possessions long before glass marbles were common. I have a few that literally look like they were hammered. I keep them anyway.

They are Agates (stone), but I don't know about value. The right one is pretty rough.

I think the pale blue on the right one points toward Vitro but . . .? The left one is hard to tell given these pics, but an oddball IMO.

It looks mostly like a Whitie (or variant) to me, if the white is opaque.

The lamps are so cool. IIt would be interesting to learn which of the trays (marbles) are the hardest to find. I have a small one with orange helmets, and I have seen a couple with the black helmets, which I am guessing are less common.

The one we had was a lot like Brads. It was made with two hardwood boards with half-deep cuts on each so they nested together to make the cross. My Uncle Buck (RIP) made it for us. He was a pretty odd character but an awesome guy - one of seventeen kids, along with my Mom. He was pulled out of the water after his ship was hit in the attack on Pearl Harbor and he suffered "shell shock" (PTSD these days) from the experience. He was a Master woodworker - always in his shop, I am sure it was cathartic. The bird house he made for my wife and I 42 years ago is still out in our front yard - a gift he gave to every one of his many (>80) nieces and nephews when they married. Please forgive the diversion. Uncle Buck was my favorite when I was a kid. I still think about him often, and he deserves the tribute.