sclsu Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 Got these 3 yesterday, and while I think they are most likely contemporary, I figured I would get some opinions to see if I am correct. The smallest one looks to be a divided core swirl (solid core with 4 ribbons around it - the red and blue strands have a very slight space off the core) and the other two look to be ribbon core, although the middle sized one could be a divided ribbon, as I can't quite tell if the is a few gaps in the ribbon or it is a thin strand of a light color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 They look old to me. I don't know how to identify their cores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sclsu Posted June 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 I got a 4th one that seems more contemporary(better condition) and seems different from these 3. It is a latticino core though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Marbles Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 They look like old German marbles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstmmrbls Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 Look old to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aleecee Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 Old to me as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbarney2012 Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 They look older than me and i'm vintage. Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ann Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I'llhavethat1 Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Just curious if there was anything specific to make you think 'most likely contemporary' and not vintage German marbles? My money is on vintage German marbles but thought I'd ask Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sclsu Posted June 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 The person had a mix of contemporary and old, but she didn't know enough to say either way which were which. I have read a couple books now on the subject, and picked these one because I had read that newer ribbon cores had ribbons closer to the surface. I was hoping they might be old, but I didn't want to say for sure with my limited knowledge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ann Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 When it comes to the old Germans, "new" and "old" are not really good terms to use. They're all old. What I think the author was trying to do was connect style to age, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Anyhoo, it's not very reliable (at least I don't think it is) when talking about the hand-made, cane-cut Germans ("English" colors being a notable exception). Usually the best we can do is say that If an old German marble has a faceted pontil, it was probably made between about 1860 and 1880 or so. If it has a rough (not faceted or heat-smoothed) pontil it was probably made between about 1880 and 1920, when they were hurrying up the process a bit. And being overtaken by American-made marbles. I've seen (and have) some single and double ribbon cores where the edges of the ribbons come almost to the surface, but their faceted pontils date them to the 1860-1880 time period . . . The best book on antique marbles is Paul Baumann's Collecting Antique Marbles. I can't recommend it highly enough. You'll seldom go wrong with his info. (He does venture into American machine-mades a little at the end.) And, save the word "contemporary" for when you mean . . . yesterday! OK, from about 1970 up until yesterday, or so. That's pretty much what most marble collectors mean by contemporary . . . It sounds like we may have him hooked, guys . . . hehehe Contemporary hand-made, cane-cut marbles (by Steve Maslach): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sclsu Posted June 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 She definitely had some that were made recently, so that's why I was questioning them. I still have so much to learn that I don't want to be quick to judgement on anything and be wrong. I am definitely going to check out that book - after I read the akro book that is coming in the mail today:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ann Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 Good for you! You might also want to check out American Machine Made Marbles . . . by Johnston, Meltzer, & Six. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sclsu Posted June 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 Lol I got that one already, but have only read a bit so far. I am slowly going down the book list here on the forum so that I can learn as much as I can. I appreciate all the help this forum offers me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstmmrbls Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 If you really are serious about marbles try very very hard to get to a show, One Saturday at a show will be more marble identification than you can get from many years of reading books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sclsu Posted June 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 If you really are serious about marbles try very very hard to get to a show, One Saturday at a show will be more marble identification than you can get from many years of reading books.I am planning to go to the Vegas show. The Washington on is too far of a drive. I have been trying to find a club in socal to join Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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