Steph

Take the green marbles out into the sunlight. Roll them back and forth and see if the green has a sparkle or other glistening sheen.

I'm going to disagree with Al on that one. I think many WV swirls were single ribbon marbles. Probably many of those in Scott's group have a single ribbon which in hand you could trace from start to finish. But in most of these cases it's a softer looking ribbon. For me the distinction is recognizing the marbles as being Veiligglas. I think of the Veiligglas ribbons as having more crispness than softness but basically mostly it's just a matter of recognizing the marbles as being European or not and I don't have the words to explain it. Here is a thread that Winnie (from Amsterdam) started to show off her wirepulls: https://marbleconnection.com/topic/20865-veiligglas-wirepulls

Most of those are commons with negligible monetary value. The Asian cat's eyes on top. The modern Asian marbles on the bottom. Now if any of the green cat's eyes are pure aventurine that would make them interesting and could add value. But basically these are among the commonest of commons. That said, there are a few more interesting ones mixed in with the rest. I've circled in black some vintage or possibly-vintage ones. And I circled in red the ones I'm most interested in seeing more of.

Okay ... that's a special one. A very large handgathered marble. I think maybe Japanese transitional. And while small transitionals are relatively common, that size puts that in the hard-to-find category. I don't know what kind of price it could be worth. But I'd call it a keeper because who knows the next time you might find one.

lol & seek and if you move or remodel, there's always the chance of a hidden treasure

Actually, I'd like to see more views of the big one with the darker blue ribbon.

Nice find! Big yes to NLR ... in case you really needed that info.

Agree with Al's assessment. One which might not be Alley is this one. More views might turn that into a Japanese transitional or something else outside the WV swirl family.

Transitionals are foreign. Most from Japan. (Some might say all from Japan, but I'm thinking of some other marbles which might fall into the transitional category and which might be from Europe or China. But it's usually safe to answer "Japan" about a transitional.)

My eyes also stopped on those two as possible Veiligglas. Then I decided that I wanted them to be Ravenswood!

I know the struggle! Maybe 20% of my pictures qualify as presentable but as hard as I have struggled with them in the past I'll take presentable and be happy with it.

I don't know about THE defining trait. I have most if not all of the color combos covered up there. They're dug marbles from Pennsboro.

Maybe I'll bump the thread 9 more times.

Okay, I have been procrastinating hugely. Well, actually not so much. I've actually been getting a lot done, but it's been other things than marbles WHILE hobbling around on two injured legs from two separate accidents! I don't have my ten coolest marbles chosen yet, but at least one of these Alley Tater Bugs has to be in that list! So since I found this picture for Chad's thread ... 10) Alley Tater Bug

That big one and the matching littler one beside it -- I would have those with my wirepulls. Wirepulls have been narrowed down to having come from Europe, perhaps all from the Veiligglas company in Amsterdam. They could be similar to American marbles, but we have basically reserved the name for the European version. Your green one four marbles to the right of the big blue one ... I think that's a Vacor. The rest I would have with my transparent swirls, mostly being from West Virginia swirl companies.

I'll move up a quite a bit in rarity -- here are some of my Alley Tater Bugs.

Buzz buzz .... I was going to start simpler than this but somehow I misplaced my jar of clearies. So I'll start with my all-time favorite style from childhood. (But the gift of these came last year.) Hey ... my camera turns yellow green .... so ??

❤️ sweet I had a cat who liked to play with marbles. Gone to the rainbow bridge many years ago. I wish I had let him play with more.

Do you garden? I have a small backyard, with small garden plots trying not to take up the whole space. And cucumber vines are pretty, so for the past two years I've had cucumbers in the front planter. Not going to do that again -- because the planter is from 1951 and I'm worried about the damage I'm doing with water and dirt -- but enjoying it now. I was getting one or two small-to-medium cucumbers a day ... very manageable ... and then poof! Overnight I got four gigantic ones ... and two more medium ones. Getting out of hand. Delicious though. Delicious though.

With such beautiful seams, this might be offbase, but the colors look Vacor to me.

Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing.

No! Fish are good! Or so I hear. LOL. I don't personally fish, but I know a lot of fishermen. The lounge is for exactly this.