I'llhavethat1

Nice pics, marbles look great!

Hi Rylee, you may get some mixed opinions in response to your question. Some might say that polishing "destroys" the value and collect-ability, while others might say that it improves aesthetics because at least you can see what's going on inside and enjoy the marble's pattern. I'm assuming you mean a handmade marble that has a fair amount of clear glass encasing the inside pattern. Polishing a marble removes glass and depending on the depth of the damage/dullness a fair amount of glass may need to be removed. Removing a lot of glass can sometimes expose the "ends" of the inner pattern at each pontil which bugs some people including me, but it's a quick way to tell if a handmade has been polished. Here are a couple before/after pictures of ~1 5/8" for examples sake **results may vary** lol please excuse the quality if I can get the pics to work. Good luck with your marble what ever you decide to do with it! I'll also add that chips/dings can add a lot of character to these old marbles. Think of the stories that could be told of games on the playground 100 years ago! I think that's pretty cool in itself.

Tee-riffic! Man that's a nice score. Even better that they came all together

The term gets used between hand made and machine made marbles and sometimes referred to as more of a "tooling mark" on a handmade marble but the general idea can apply to both

Sauerkraut is very German, but I'm thinking the jar would have been bigger than the one originally shown and for the weights to make any difference.

Interesting Lid, so the jar had those in it when it came out of the ground?

That's pretty cool!

ya, some of them can be tough

Is it? (bump-arossa)

Sulphides have a lot of clear glass around the figure and cleaning up the surface helps see the detail. A couple people here can help you via polishing or remelt.

lol back when I played the trophy would be the opponents marble. Where would I find more info about those paintings (marble displays had to come down and would like something like that to hang on the wall).

I wondered if the same encasing could be done to a hand made, Rich what do you think?

I see a few nice ones, way to go. Is the one at 3 o'clock a ribbon core latt?

I learned a new word today "docent". Excited to see the pics and hear any opinions on how it would have been made

Aventurine in the blue would put that one over the top. Great marble(s) + pics

Seam and flame pattern close up

Could be, the patterns on larger ones can get a bit unpredictable, ~3/4"

but it's loaded with aventurine. Are you saying it might not be a Spider-Galaxy? (lol)

I've seen that marble pic before and at the time I wondered if it could be "oven brick". It does sort of look like an animal figurine though. I don't know how a sulphide figure would end up in a cane cut marble, (ie: two pontils) but maybe somebody that knows more about making marbles can shed some light. I'm not saying it can't be done but curiosity is what makes me ask

What gave it away or was it determined "fake" of something in particular?

ooch those are nice looking marbles

yes

Pontil pic in post 4 looks interesting..

Those onionskin examples show lobes pretty well and yes certain solid cores are also good examples of the pattern. usually with a contrasting colored "ridge" on a white or yellow lobed core. edit (some divided core swirls can have what look like lobes as well, most of these are solid cores with 3-4 lobes. note: the outer layer of fine yellow or white "strands" are what makes them non-"naked" examples.)

edit The one in the middle is a naked solid core since there are no outer bands or layers.