Vintage Marbles – A Beginner’s Guide To Collecting

Marbles are round spherical objects used to play games; they have existed for at least 3,000 years. From Egyptian pyramids to Native American mounds, archeologists have found caches of marbles. More modern marble-related events and associations continue this long-standing tradition. The annual marble tournament in Tinsley Green, England, has been held on Good Friday for the past 300 years, and the National Marbles Tournament occurs on the third weekend of June in Wildwood, New Jersey.

Antique glass marbles are highly collectible, and the types range from handmade examples from German glassmakers of the 1800s to U.S. machine-made marbles of the early and mid-1900s. Most antique handmade glass marbles found today come from Germany from 1860 to 1920. You may also see a limited number of handmade marbles from this time frame made in the United States.

Most collectors today are interested in handmade marbles; a pontil mark can identify examples from the mid-1800s through the early 1900s. The pontil mark is created during production when the marble is removed from the pontil rod. Machine-made marbles became an alternative to handmade marbles during World War I when the U.S. stopped importing handmade marbles from Germany. Many collectors enjoy collecting these machine-made marbles because they remind them of their childhood.

TYPES OF COLLECTIBLE MARBLES

GERMAN HANDMADE GLASS MARBLES - 1850'S TO EARLY 1900S

German Handmade marbles are one of the first types brought to the United States. These marbles remain among the most popular types of collectible marbles worldwide. There are hundreds of color combinations and styles, but most fall into the following categories:

STYLES

• Latticinio Swirls – Most Common

• Divided Core Swirls

• Solid Core Swirls

• Ribbon Core Swirls

• Coreless Swirls

• Joseph’s Coat Swirls

• Peppermint Swirls

• Banded Opaques

• Indian Swirls – Almost always with a black base

• Clambroth Swirls

• Lutz – All have gold metallic bands

• Micas – Clear with metallic flakes

• Onion skins

• Sulphides – Figures embedded into marbles

GERMAN HANDMADE MARBLES - 1850'S TO EARLY 1900S (NON-GLASS)

• Clay

  • Bennington

  • Dyed Pottery

  • Crockery

  • Spongeware

• Mineral

  • Agates – Natural or Dyed (Dyed are more valuable)

GLASS MACHINE MADE MARBLES - 1900 TO 1970S

The advent of marble-making machines in the early 1900s meant that glass marbles could now be mass-produced at a rate of up to 1 million marbles a day. These machine-made marbles remain one of the most popular types of collectible marbles. There are hundreds of color variations and styles of machine-made marbles. Here is a selection of the most popular.

• Christensen Agate 1925

• Peltier Co. 1927

• Akro Agate 1910-1951

• F. Christensen 1940-1917

• Master Made Marbles 1930

• Vitro Agate Co. 1932

• Marble King 1949

• Other Makers 1920’s-1930’s

  • Ravenswood

  • Champion

  • Alley

  • Allox

  • Cairo

  • Heaton

GLASS MACHINE MADE MARBLES - 1980 TO CURRENT

Today the majority come from Mexico and China, but a few marble companies remain in the United States, including Marble King and Jabo, Inc. This current crop of marbles is all very colorful and beautiful to look at but has no particular value to collectors other than their purchase price. Most modern marbles cost between 10 and 50 cents each.

• Vacor – Mega Marble (Mexico)

• Imperial (China)

• Jabo, Inc. (USA)

• House of Marble (UK)

FAKES & REPRODUCTIONS

There are some glass marbles out there that are made to mimic old machine-made or German handmade marbles. Over the last decade, a massive influx of fake clay and sulphide marbles has entered the collectors market. The most common "fakes" are clay marbles which are said to have been dredged from the river in the Tennessee area, or are "Civil War" era marbles. If clay marbles had been in the river for 100 years, they would have broken down and washed away ages ago. These false pieces are easy to spot as they are hefty for clay and have crude graphics drawn in marker; they may also have imitation crazing added to make them look older.

CONDITION

Condition is so critical. Just because a marble is old does not mean it is automatically valuable. Marbles that are chipped and in rough condition will not appraise for much.

Marbles are antique toys made of glass or clay, and like any glass antique, chips, cracks, and scratches can all lower the final value of each item significantly. It takes minor damage to reduce the value of a marble, and since they were designed as kid's toys meant to be played with, this can be a big issue for collectors. Most marbles will have some damage, but collectors want marbles that are in mint condition or as close to that as possible. Marbles in poor condition will be of little value, even if they would be valuable in mint condition.