A big pile of old marbles to see :)

[Bag33]

Hello everyone, I have recently found some old marbles amongst my late Father's belongings (he was a antique/bric-a-brac dealer in the UK). There were a few different bags and one seemed to be a cloth 'playing bag' with 1933 embroidered on the front, so that should help with the dates.

Most are glass and probably very common, but there are one or two which seem to have better crafstmanship or are more attractive to the eye. Of the stone ones, a couple of them have ribbed surfaces. there are some carpet bowls also in the background.

If anyone has any thoughts or comments on these, wants more pictures, or can offer any advice about how to sort/lot them for sale, and where best to sell them, then that would be very much appreciated as well.

Many Thanks. :)

[Steph]

Hi.  Welcome.  

I'm not brimming with advice at the moment.  I just wanted to say hi.  There are some interesting marbles in your group, plus of course the carpet bowls are cool.  

[Bag33]

Hi Steph Thanks for the reply, yes there seems to be a good range there...I think whoever was playing with them was quite into the hobby at the time, which is fun to think about... 'the marble champion of 1933'. :D

Yes I don't know anything about marbles, and I'm sorry the photos are a bit general. If there's anything you want to see more clearly I'll take some better pics. Some of my favourite IRL are the ones in picture 6, the 'apple-drop swirls', very attractive to me. The one on the far right of that group is similar to the others, but the swirl in slightly internal with clear glass on top. I hope I can find out more about them, and then find them a good home. :)

I also like the carpet bowls, there are three wooden 'crown green' style ones just out of shot, and one made of granite I think....it's incredibly heavy. I think they are probably Scottish, as carpet bowls was a traditional game there?? ( I'm not sure).

Thanks again Steph. :)

[Steph]

The "apple drop" ones are handmade German, and I see why you like!

In the first picture ,the row of large ones with the white base and the single colored ones might sell well ... some or all appear to be an uncommon "transitional".  In that size, all transitionals are uncommon, but there are some which are often found in Canada which are different from ones typically found in the U.S.

The smaller row below also appear to be  transitionals.   That's our name for certain "handgathered" marbles.  "Handgathered" is when the glob of molten glass was dipped out of the heated container with a metal rod and then given a twist and cut off with glass scissors and dropped onto mechanical rollers which did the rounding.  

And you also have some transparent based transitionals in your lot ... those can pretty safely be assumed to be from Japan. 

I see quite a few more handmade German marbles.  And I see at least a few American machine-mades.

I may see some from Amsterdam, and I see one "figure-8" which resembles the American-made Peltier Rainbos but the ribbons are at a different angle, which sets them apart. 

The carpet bowls are in a category by themselves.  

If you're organizing for sale on ebay, I expect that sorting the bowls and handmades and transitionals out from the rest would be the best.  At least in the U.S.  You could try mixed lots but if they're too wide of a range, with some really some really common ones, that could weigh down the value you would otherwise have gotten for the better marbles.   I see you're in the UK, and I really don't know much about the best way to sell from the UK considering shipping costs.