lstmmrbls

Just marbles, Art, and some sports memorablia. Not enough meteorites wood decoys fossils or arrowheads to call them collections(yet)LOL. Before loosing everything I owned to a thief after the divorce my collecting was at a fevered pace. I was selling out of 5 storesto help fund my habit and even making cross country buying trips to feed the habit. 2 recliners and a couch were the only non-antique furniture in the house. The collections included Militaria,Revolution-WWII [weapons paperwork flags etc. Fraternal Organization memorabilia-pins buttons, parade ribbons, rings etc} pre 1900 paperweights, marbles Fossils, Indian Artifacts{North and South American}, Early American Pewter, Early American cut crystal, German Steins with Lithiphanes, Porcelain Dolls, Porcelain 3 footed bowls, Bottles with emphasis on labeled poisons, Hand made wood toys, Brass and wood tools, Ivory{emphasis on 2 animal netsukes, Mounted insects, Mineral crystals, Pre 60s non sports cards. Hand made lace items,and I am sure a few I forgot to list. The worst part about the robbery was loosing 5 generations of family material.Ouch!

Sorry, I made it sound like Lopacki was of the mode to do that. Sounds like they keep all their polished beads? I should have said it sounds like anyone could polish up an old handmade drill a hole in it and sell it for good money. Thats why the bead collectors crazier than marble collectors comment.

check out second row up from the bottom, middle marble http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cival-War-Era-Marbles-From-Memphis-TN-22-Marbles-In-Display-Case-Estate-Sale-/321184644521?pt=Marbles&hash=item4ac818bda9

post #25 looked like a good candidate for a polish. Sound like you are saying if someone gets beat up marbles polishes and drills them they could make a big profit? I do not understand why someone would pay top dollar for a marble that was ruined by drilling a hole through it? Bead collecters must even be crazier than us marble collectors

Many times certain cantaminants will form a crystally material in glass as it cools. Also many microscopic contaminants will form microfractures that have the appearence of crystal formations. I believe that is the case in these marbles. I have found it to be common in certain Akros and Masters. The actual crystal shape can be seen for most all true aventurines when examined under strong magnification and are very distinct for various types, The other stuff looks like little individually shaped pieces of dust or junk. Under very strong magnification the crystalline shapes can even be seen in good high quality Oxblood glass.

Personally I would never have had any thing done to that last bead Danny posted.

polishing can also remove a lot of value from a marble or bead that is not in poor condition to start with

Found the Great Article by LEE LINNE http://www.tasart.com/uploads/MARBLE_BEADS_Article.pdf

Lee Linne of the IAMC marble club has a rather large collection of the beads. I believe he has also written an article about them.

Exceptional!!

I like this guys stuff https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1536&bih=757&q=alphonse+mucha&oq=alphonse&gs_l=img.1.0.0l10.4732.9161.0.11297.8.6.0.2.2.0.144.770.1j5.6.0....0...1ac.1.25.img..0.8.778.Mj-L485p7BY

I think Brian once stated it was chromium that made green aventurine

Gonna have to agree to disagree. And one of my reasoning's being is all the various types of Alley marbles with Aventurine can be found with out. Heck not even all the fantastic Pelt types were added aventurine. It happened or it didn't. Also with out exact controls it would have been very hard back in the day of Alley furnaces to add an aventurine glass and have it come out aventurine? Even the green swirls and the blue swirls have the same marble with out aventurine. Never say never but seeing the aventurine is always in association with colors known to accidentally form aventurine I think it was accidental. Doesn't really matter though, how it got there, they are some beautiful marbles for sure!! And we can not compare the aventurine glass now being used in the new runs to past aventurine IMO

Okay now I am leaning way over to the MK side of this fence and just about ready to jump off

Unless it is my color blindness it looks like a flip lop in the first pic? But I am high on the fence for sure.

Gmomewhacker, It does not have to be damage that would necessarily make a marble a 9.9 or a 9.8. An over abundance of melted bubble pops. embedded sand out of round etc many things can lower a number grade of a marble if it must be used. I really do not like seeing them at all as there is no standardized system and never will be. Heck I see hundred of times people list a ding or flea bite as only seen under magnification and that is just crap. What magnification? There is very little damage that can only be seen under 10X and not by someone with decent eye site. And if that is truly they case it is microscopic scratches, not dings, pin pricks, and flea bites. MINT IS MINT NO DAMAGE IMO

I am with Sami on this one. The flip flop says a lot!

yes they are bubbles and can be inserted by pushing a thin rod into the marble. The marbles with large patterns of small bubbles I have seen done with a flower frog http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Vogue-Metal-Flower-Frogs-set-of-4-/171098382354?pt=Floral_Decor&hash=item27d6422012

If you read 9.3 to 9.6 which he called mint they could have damage. That was a problem. Lots of folks bought marbles they believed mint and now have near mint marbles. I knew to never buy anything 9.6 or less if I wanted a mint marble.

I just can't take a grown man whining(LOL)

Sorry Ronnie but it goes way past personal matters when it involves more folks than yourself. Yes, Gnomiewhacker, there are actually 4 layers to that marble. The best I have figured(with agreement from several marble artists, is the glass is left on the punty from the previous marble to act as a base(instead of cleaning the rod and starting again with clear) After this is done a few times you get what is shown in that ground down marble Clyde owns. The number system is actually pretty worthless when it comes to marbles. Mainly because there is no standardized description. And most sellers have there own description for the numbers. Even MarbleAlan sold non-mint marbles as 9.6. But folks still want numbers for some reason. Mint should mean mint, no damage no dings no flea bites no moons no fractures. Damage fro manufacture, pops and surface pulls done during the manufacturing process would make a marble mint - in my book. Any marble with any hits at all, dings moons flea bites whatever should be called Near Mint. And even those terms will never be agreed upon by all. So if sellers just list all and any damage no matter what it is, the buyer should be happy.

Clyde is referencing this http://marbleconnection.com/topic/18055-polished/?hl=polished posts 6 and 11 say a lot. Ronnie remember this Ebay buyer phbern1917 Gnomebeater, most(buffing)polishing by unscrupulous dealers and polishers in general is done with some kind of polishing compound,(tin oxide, cerium oxide, jewelers rouge etc.) some may even use weak hydroflouric acid(which will even round edges). I wonder if some just use a wet leather pad at high speed? (Still removes glass} Even though some insist these methods do not remove glass, that just is not true.(it does remove glass, that is how it polishes).Hydroflouric acid actually dissolves glass. When using wax or floor polish you are not removing glass but it is sometimes still used to deceive.

Some types of polishing will sharpen the edges of a rounded edge(melted) bubble pop. Some will not. Buffing polishing by hand or pad for example can add shine without putting an edge on melted pops. Also the are hits that can leave a sharp edge and the appearance of being polished when nothing has been done. It is not always easy, thats for sure.

Glad to see you are looking to do the right thing Gnomehater. Too many do not care when selling. Sorry but ignorance of what a polished marble looks like as an excuse to sell it just does seem excusable. Maybe I say that because I have seen too many dealers pass on marbles they know are buffed and polished using the excuse they do not know. And I have had more than 1 get mad at me when someone has walked a marble over to me at a show they are thinking of buying, for my opinion, and I tell them it is polished. Most buyers do not carry a magnifier which is a must unless you really know what to look for. And for a marble as beat as the one I was questioned about It was barely in collectible condition no matter what had been done to it IMO. In hand is also a must for many to know exactly what has been done to it. There are many ways to buff and polish marbles. Many do not remove most of the damage just add shine. It hardly costs anything to get a leather pad and some polishing compound to buff a marble and see what it looks like under magnification. And anyone can send some off to Leroy for a full polish job and some for final stepl polish to examine under magnification. I feel that if you are a collector and a seller you should know what you are selling! It really is sad when you see folks finding out the mibs they spent good money on are a cheap polish job.

Flights cost twice as much in the summer to Canton, The summer show is always a bit slower than the Winter show. It is still one of the best. Wish I could have made it.