machinemades

Quite a find Craig, well done!

It does look like Alley "jolly green giant" or something like that from here. They are typically large with green transparent base glass loaded with aventurine. I have seen and owned small 11/16" version also.

Fantastic show with super mid west hospitality. Wonderful to see old friends and make new ones. I was also very happy to see younger generation collectors taking over an old traditional show and carrying over to the next generation. Many thanks and congratulations to Chad for a great show and the new addition to the family. Also thanks to Dan for covering the host position while Chad was away. I came back home with a smiley face from memories that I will never forget and with some super marbles for my collection. Looking forward to next year. Sami

Ann, they are four and six ribbon NLRs, so should date as early as late 20'ties through 30'ties.

That recession on the pontil could have happened when they chip the glass extension before grinding to clean it up. The facets look to be too good for a remelt job to me.

I don't know if that marble is a CAC but I have seen Striped Opaques with aventurine.

I'll be arriving Tuesday morning. I'll bring eclectic machinemade stuff. Bill, bring your pelts. Sami

1-1/4"

Mon, Your frustration is understood. We want a solid outcome and answers by this time after all this talk. It ain't going to be easy. Here is another observation... Cut lines were part of the early marbles because of the limitations of the early machinery. It was not something to be desired to have on the marbles. Christensen would love to produce Guineas with no cut lines. Interesting enough, those cut lines are one of the most important identification tool we use today to distinguish between the old and the new. Shamrock and whoever else added the cut lines to their marbles these days did it either for proof that the early marbles could be reproduced and faked or simply to deceive and make money. John is number one option I believe. However, Shamrock's cut lines are not exactly the same as Christensen's. I will take a close up picture for comparison purposes as soon as I can locate my setup after a big move.

Craig, I am thinking on your breakdown of CA marble production. First HG, than swirls and last SO/ST. So where does Guineas fit? They have cut lines, so does SO/ST marbles. Then we are assuming the common swirls came before Guineas showed up. Of course we need to insert the flame swirls that are part of swirl period? If Guineas are HG, then ST/SO are also HG since they are similar in construction. I am thinking flames were at the same time period as Guineas and ST/SO and earlier than the common swirls that are produced to make money. Remember we are talking about a very short time period in history.

John, Excellent thesis! I have one question... I have a beautiful collection of your marbles that I can compare with some Christensens. There is a big difference... The glass is completely different just to begin with. Is the glass Christensen used available today if you wanted to make marbles with it? Sami

Here is my theori... Christensen had a very short life. Is it possible these were produced early and machines were quickly improved for less rejects and more production? Common swirls were produced. These might be very expensive to produce, require more labor and might not be profitable. Guineas, which had the similar construction, were very popular and might have been produced more than SO/ST marbles. I believe these are genuine. Why do all these have to be part of a dig? Couldn't some of them have been also sitting in collections?

Is one of the ribbons transparent orange? I have few of those I will be listing on EBay.

First time I heard the description "Exotics" was one of the last Danny Turner Running Rabbit auction for couple of unusual "Guineas". After Marblealan bought RR auctions he used the term freely for any high end Christensen ST/SO marble. At one point there was a controversy regarding these marbles as being fake but I think that argument lost it's momentum after the availability of these rare marbles diminished. At one point Marblealan was selling tons of them triggering suspicion among collectors if these are really rare.

Craig, Could it be Master Sunburst? I don't see Peltier ribbon configuration in that marble.

I am sure the production of NLRs didn't stop one day and moved to Rainbos. It gradually happened through months even a year or two. Some marbles like the Angels might have been produced during this transition time. Another description for later Rainbo glass is diluted glass. Compare early Vitros, Masters, Alleys to later versions, you will find similar descriptions for all of them.

If I take the risk to describe the difference between early Peltiers and later Rainbos; Early Peltiers have different glass, more defined patterns, stronger colors. Offset ribbon configuration, ying yang pattern, swirls are all earlier Peltier characteristics that does not show in later Rainbos. Also, in earlier years Peltier produced certain color combination consistently. Later years all kinds of colors were introduced, but early combos like Christmas Trees, or Rebels were gone. Although there are Rainbos with aventurine, early aventurine was never produced in later years, which maybe because aventurine glass was expensive and Peltier wanted to cut costs down for profit.

Could it be a super rare Guinea?

Is that Sue? Welcome back!

It is supposed to be marbles made with the left over scrap glass at the end of the day.

I never understood that naming convention.

I know MFC's Moss Agate was a different animal, but the original handcut, antique Moss Agate is a type of green translucent Agate with some black speckles loaded in it. Antique handcut Blood Agate is a type of Carnelian Agate with vanes that look very close to classic oxblood glass. Sami

Andrea, eBay has this rule for a long time now. Good pictures are they bread and butter because it brings higher value for items. There should be some guidelines how to prepare your pictures buried somewhere in the sellers section. Sami

Hi Andrea, Adjust your camera settings to highest pixels for high resolution, which will give you large enough picture even if you crop it. Hope this helps Sami

Thanks Kevin for posting the pictures. Great to meet Bo and his wife. Great time with good old friends and get to know Dick and his wife better. We had one of the best turn outs we had for a while. We had Chuck driving all the way from Pasadena, Dick and wife from Sacramento, Bo and wife from Sparks and mike Johnson all the way from San miguel. Thanks guys for showing up. Great time and super marbles were displayed and traded. Sami