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So far every time I get enough of them that I'm wondering what to do with them, someone who is new at collecting comes along with a desire to grab all the old marbles they can get for learning, so I give them away to people like that.

I'm not an authority, so this may not be accurate. My take is... on that one shown... I'd have said the patch was veneered over the base. Looks like this one has some issue with the expansion/contraction coefficient of the glass and it shows how it was a thin veneer over the base where it separated. I think of veneer in woodworking terms. Like particle board with oak veneer over it. It's a thin layer, usually of a preferred material, bonded over a base of lesser quality or less desired base material. In furniture, you could have a piece made of oak, with the oak being the main part of the piece, but with other contrasting woods veneered over the oak in certain places for decoration and contrast, and to save money by not having to construct the entire piece from the higher quality wood.. much the same as it is in marbles. With wood, it's usually done with an adhesive. With glass, it is melted together, which I would assume occasionally lets some blend with the matrix just like welding metal or any materials that are melted together. This would likely be exaggerated by how hot the two molten materials are when they are introduced to each other. I'm not familiar with how this was done by the marble makers though and I don't know if the term can be applied in marbles the same as it is in furniture. Conquerors, as far as I can tell, are basically a clear marble with a colored patch and some white veneered or somehow laid on the surface to decorate it. Similar to an all-red over a white base or a master with a thick brushed patch. I have some that had the color flake off just like the marble shown a couple posts up. I'll have to pull out the vitro box and look at them closer. On veneered marbles, does the marble get made and then a veneer is applied over it? Or was the marble made all at once? I never thought about defining what is truly veneered and what is not until now.

So the entire base of the marble should be covered with another glass to be a veneer? I know they aren't veneered in the same sense that some MKs were, but I still figured veneered would be the best description of how the color and white are on the base glass. Of course I based that on nothing more than my own judgement, so it is quite possibly incorrect. Maybe even likely,

I do. Not the phantom conqs, but the regular conquerors are veneered in my opinion. What makes them not fit the category?

I would think "bead" for the first one. Not sure what the second is.

It looks mostly like Ravenswood to me the way the ribbons run, but could easily be alley. Pretty sure it's one or the other.

Nice onionskin! It will lose a lot of value if you repair it (as in making it less than half of what it's worth now). It's in good enough condition to display well like it is and many serious collectors don't want polished marbles. (note: I have a couple polished ones... so either I'm not serious, or I don't fit that category). The ones I have that are polished were un-presentable... damaged beyond any collectibility to the point of not being able to tell what was inside the glass.

Steph, on the abalone...I've been told that the ones around the center one have a similar to abalone appearance, but it was caused by being buried. I was told the actual abalone one in the center was made that way off the rollers. It is definitely a little different. It has an almost metallic look, but with an oily rainbow color sheen to it, sort of like looking at light shining on a music CD. Edit to add nearly 10 years later, that effect was not on the marble off the rollers. All of them are a result of being buried.

Alley copper metallic A couple of HTF Sistersvilles: Sweet baby grey shooter alongside another Alley shooter

Some more from Pennsboro:

I can add some to the thread: Alley West Virginians at the top, dug at the Pennsboro location. More dug at Pennsboro A pretty striking alley abalone in the center of this pic, all from Pennsboro

I joined this site a long time ago, but got sidetracked and never posted. Anyway, many or most of you folks already know me from other places. Glad to be on this forum... another source of marble knowledge and pictures to peruse!

I'd have them in with my pelts.