hdesousa

How about this Chris Robinson marble? http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-GERMAN-3-4-INDIAN-SWIRL-WITH-LUTZ-ERROR-MINT-10-0-EXCELLENT-L-K-/151851055149

Not only are they getting better, they've started to fake wear: http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-BLUE-EYE-OLD-ANTIQUE-HANDMADE-GLASS-MARBLE-RARE-/121719136788

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-HAND-MADE-MARBLE-15-16-SWIRL-M-NM-/171881961813 http://www.ebay.com/itm/171880659092 http://www.ebay.com/itm/171878066432

Ball-mill balls (AKA Atlanta porcelains) are made of a Zn Al ceramic and are much denser than glass. Perhaps that's what you had found. The rules also allow a marble ground out of stone. I have a small sealed wooden cylindrical container, not unlike some thimble holders, which was reportedly handed out to marble tournament competitors. It supposedly contains a hand ground German agate.

Exactly. The water displacement method can give a precise measurement of volume, but since marbles are not spherical, you have to estimate the mean diameter in order to compare marbles, as you said. It would be just as accurate to estimate a mean diameter by using calipers and averaging several diameter measurements, forgoing the messy water business. But perhaps I misunderstood what you were saying...other than comparing density is the way to go.

Comparing the density of marbles is useful, especially when differentiating between types of ceramic marbles - clay, limestone, agate, stoneware, porcelain, etc. as well as distinguishing between makers. e.g. Standard Toy stoneware marbles are less dense than AMT stoneware marbles. But if you're going to estimate average diameter, you can forgo the water displacement measurement and calculate volume using the formula. You could make a table that will give you the density from average diameter and weight, and density can then be easily and quickly determined. By the way, the formula indicates that the volume of a sphere is proportional to the cube of the radius (and hence diameter). So a 2" marble, which is 4 times the diameter of a 1/2" marble, will have 4 X 4 X 4 or 64 times as much glass as a 1/2" marble.

Younger and healthier collectors, of course.

Whenever I get a full refund on eBay, it includes what the seller charged for shipping. But the buyer's cost of return shipping is not usually refunded.

https://youtu.be/OqMhU64HMUA

Seems more like the other way around. Same name (sunset), different marble.

At the risk of making you feel more sucky, purposeful mis-listing in the wrong age category and then stating in the description that age is unknown, is not much worse than posting an I.D.question in the General Marble and Glass Chat forum. It gets more exposure. The sin is in stating age is unknown when you know full well it's a contemporary marble.

Rust is easy to fake. How do you tell "natural " rust from fake rust?

Hey, I was just joking....

Yeah, I don't know how to reconcile inaccurate listing categories. For example, lots of machine mades listed in handmades and vice versa. Doesn't make it right, but I don't know if that makes it a sin. Do you still have connections to nuns you could ask?

The person who spent $600 probably thought they were stealing a mint colored glass sulphide. It's human nature. Someone apparently lost ten times as much here; look again at post #283 http://marbleconnection.com/topic/20159-do-it-yourself-marble-calendar-2015/page-15

The seller is Mario Baz, son of Gerhard Baz. They both sell on eBay using a variety of names. Both have a fairly good reputation for selling antique marbles and related items. In this case, the bidders' identities are hidden, which should be a warning to bidders. The seller makes no false claims as to age or value in his description of this marble. It's more a sin of omission than commission. For those not educated by nuns, look here: http://www.pathconscious.com/sins-of-omission-vs-commission/

Identical new empty boxes could be purchased in Laucha for US$5 each last time I visited, some 10 years ago. They probably cost pennies to make, but they were being offered as repros at inflated prices. That area of Thuringen (where this seller is located) has traditionally been home to many master glass blowers. Glass ornaments, dolls' eyes and marbles were and are still being produced and boxed in that type of cardboard, in all shapes and sizes.

Thanks for the information akronmarbles. BTW, many of the characters are Chinese (perhaps before modern Japanese script?). http://www.logoi.com/notes/japanese_chinese_writing.html So should be easier to get a translation.

You might be better off settling for a repro.

Also in honor of Mibcollectors.com's auction tracking site coming back online http://www.mibcollectors.com/view_lot.php?marble_lot_id=5885&back_link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mibcollectors.com%2Fauction_data.php%3Fkeyword%3D%26keyword_refinement%3D%26exclude_keywords%3D%26photos_only%3D%26individual%3D%26condition_start%3D%26condition_end%3D10%26size_start%3D%26size_end%3D5%26price_start%3D%26price_end%3D9999999%26status%3DSold%2BWith%2BPricing%26orderby%3D3%26offset%3D20%26quicksearch%3D%26limit_member_id%3D%26searching%3D%26limit_marble_collection_id%3D%26submitted%3D1&back_link_description= http://morphyauctions.hibid.com/lot/19552788/court-jester-sulphide-marble-?cat=0&sort=1&hide=0&qs=0&view=0&aView=0&q=jester&selCat=0

From Forgery 101: 1. Get the date right! http://www.barnesandnoble.com/review/art-forgery-101

Joe, Some may collect with $$$ signs in their eyes, but some just like to have a nice set of balls to itch when the feeling's good. Not the same scratching a silver or gold bar.

And talking of marbles..... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Blue-Glass-Eagel-Sulphide-Marble-/351420065609

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnLRSOswk6w

What about "marbles"?