Steph

Yes, anything that the marble books might call a pontil and the new collectors would be hoping to find on their marbles.

Thanks. I'm having fun. Hope you are. Don't wear yourself out. Have a good evening.

#5 is looking like a Vitro Conqueror which may have spent some time in a fishbowl, giving it a matte surface. #2 is looking sort of Vitro-y to me but I'm hoping for a second opinion

I bet they are. This is a crash course. 12 different ones is a lot for one thread. Even experienced eyes get tired. I'll give 'em a shot. I'm only about half done but hitting enter now to save. Will keep looking at the other marbles and may fill in some more blanks. [Edit: Okay, I've made all my guesses now.] 1. I think this is a Vitro. 2. More views, please. 3. Marble King Rainbow (Note the MK Rainbow is spelled with a "w" on the end, while a Pelt Rainbo is spelled without the "w" ) 4. Strange Marble King? 5. I do not know. More views might help. 6. Peltier Rainbo 7. Peltier Banana (a type of cat's eye) (there are non-Peltier bananas also so I won't 100% say this one is Pelt but put your bananas together for awhile and treat them as Pelts) 8. Master Marble. Might be called a Sunburst. 9. Vitro Tiger Eye 10. Peltier Rainbo 11. West Virginia swirl 12. West Virginia swirl? (I'm not sure this one is vintage. If newer, then I'd say Jabo.)

Very shapely

I started a thread to try to get some pontil photos gathered in one place so you and other new collectors can have something to compare to. Nothing there yet, but peek in a little later. http://marbleconnection.com/topic/20970-pontils/

Do we have a good thread all about pontils? I haven't updated my links in awhile. Anyone want to take a shot at photographing pontils to post here? Fancy ones are cool. But standard ones would be good too. So we can show this thread to new collectors so they can know what to look for. Not everything has to be close-ups. Showing the whole marble would be good too so that folks know what kinds of marbles they're likely to see pontils on.

The surface is odd on this one. Can't see clearly inside, but what I do see looks like that could be cat's eye vanes. Again, no pontils. I think chips.

This one sort of looks like it could be old. Might be seeing signs of it being a "bullet mold" marble. However, those look like large hit marks rather than pontils.

I got this one split off okay. Lesseee ... looks like you have a lot of Clearies in this batch. Transparent marbles which are essentially one color are Clearies. They have other names, such as Puries. But I say Clearies. Clearies will occasionally have slight color variations within them. Still Clearies. They're not a high value marble, but they're attractive and once upon a time they were very popular. I like 'em. The ones with the white swirling around in them are called Transparent Swirls. Both Clearies and Transparent Swirls are so hard to pin down to maker that most people don't even try. Sometimes you get a little extra hint and people might try to do it for fun but mostly they get lumped together. #2 might be a Champion Agate, but that's just a guess. Your clearies have seam structure, but your transparent swirls might not. If you actually do see clear seams on the ones with white ribbons, then they're probably some other type of marble -- not transparent swirls after all -- and closer-up views showing the seams and ribbon structure could help. You say ground pontil on #5 and two pontils on #11? How about some more views of those. Closer up. Transparent marbles can be very tricky to shoot. Some have had success by taking the pictures with the marbles immersed in a bowl of water.

Do put this one in with the Moss Agates. Could be Master. Still a Moss.

Nooooooo! *panicked wail* Start a new thread with each new set. Haven't looked at the pix yet. 12 is sort of a lot of marbles for a thread, but if they're similar enough, it will be okay. Before I look at the pix, I'm breaking this new set off into a thread of its own.

Here's something you'll want to watch for in ID's. This has four very similar views -- all of the patch. Seams can be very helpful for ID's, so one of the steps in your learning process will be learning to locate the seams. This might help a little. http://marbleconnection.com/topic/17125-tips-for-posting-photos-for-id/ I know it's not always easy to see the seam/cutline on a white or clear marble.

I'm still not getting a good handle on the texture of the base on #7 or #10. #7 doesn't look quite as smooth as I want to see on a Moss Agate. Seems some white is in there and I'm not sure I'm seeing it correctly. Here's a thread on different sort of similar looking patches. http://marbleconnection.com/topic/7863-moss-agate-type-marbles/ You can see why I might be having difficulty. Seams, patch shapes and base textures all play a part in the ID. If you see orange in the base when you hold it up to a light, that also is meaningful. Only you have to make sure the orange is just from the base and not from reflections off the patch.

Best I can tell fro mthe pic, I'd have #1 in with the Akro Moss Agates. #4 might be an example of a Master style moss agate. I think Master called them Meteors but in their advertisements they described them as moss agates.

#5 could be a Master. Brushed patch. What you're seeing as a pontil on #8 is likely damage. I'm not seeing the seams like I would like but from these views, Peltier Rainbo is a good possibility. This particular Rainbo would have a collector's name. It would be called a Sunset. #9 is a Vitro Conqueror. #1, #7, #10, and #11 I'd like to see more views of. To me #2, #3, #4, #6, and #12 all look like Moss Agates. Some of the others might also be Moss Agates. Akro is most famous for making Moss Agates. Master also made some of that general style. Probably lump your Moss Agate patches together for awhile, and think of them as Akros and not worry if some might be Masters. And as soon as I say that, I wonder about #4. It looks a little different. Let's add #4 to the list for more views.

Yeah ... that could possibly have been from an Ace run. maybeeee

First, there are no pontils there. These are all machine-made marbles. "Pontil" refers to a feature on handmade or sometimes hand-gathered marbles. Second, good job sorting by type. There are many which we can lump together here, and a few stragglers. That said, let me go study the pics.

yes!

Zowee!!! Muchas gracias!

Need a like button for that Neon at least.

The green and white is a West Virginia swirl. Because of the size it's easier to ID. It would be an Alley Agate, probably from the 1940's. The one with a brownish base and orange ribbons is a Peltier Rainbo. I think modern on the others. Probably made by JABO in Reno, Ohio after 1991.

a pleasure

Here are some more Pelt Rainbos to help you get started, posted by Edna.