ANY IDEAS ON THESE PEICE OF GLASS? Marble?? Other???

[tokenhead]

I got this peice when digging for bottle's...It is appox 20mm.amethyst is color and when held to light everything looks upside down like a photograph neg.you can see right through it but it is amethyst in color,I also found another close by&it is a green type of color same deal though.
As seen in pics it has a bronken pontil.At first i thought it to be the top of a cane(carnival) but the size just doesn't seem correct.It is a beautiful peice of glass/Marble?...Any help WILL be greatly appreciated.I do have a few book's on marbles and have NOT seen anything like this,Very close but no EXACT match... So like i said ANY help,Leads,I.D.,Etc. will be greatly appreciated!!! HAPPY HUNTING ALL!!! This green marble(?) is meant to represent color of glass mentioned in Ant('s) link to railroad marbles...NOT as a RR Marble.But i think that the link mention's different size's.I also found out that alot of these style sphere were bought by the RR mainly for sign's/reflection,etc.
HAPPY HUNTING ALL!!!

 

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[Ant]

My guess is that it may be a railroad marble that was never used as it measures the right size, or it is just a marble used for decorations, or it could be junk from a glass operation, etc.
Railroad Marbles - Railroadiana Online

 

[tokenhead]

My guess is that it may be a railroad marble that was never used as it measures the right size, or it is just a marble used for decorations, or it could be junk from a glass operation, etc.
Railroad Marbles - Railroadiana Online

Sounds pretty good&the site link is very interesting! I'll have to look into this more before solving..THANK YOU Ant & HAPPIY HUNTING!!!

 

[RelicDude]

It kind if looks like a broken stopper for a decanter.

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[cheese]

The railroad marbles are machine made, this one is handmade. I don't know what it was... didn't the really old carbonated drink bottles have a marble sealing the top?

 

[bradyboy]

spray paint can marble?
Brady

 

[tokenhead]

It kind if looks like a broken stopper for a decanter.

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Thank you for your input but it is not a stopper...For a decanter that is! I can see how it can look like one! So it look's like it remain's a mystery for now,Thank's&HAPPY HUNTING!!!

 

[tokenhead]

spray paint can marble?
Brady

As a little boy in the early/mid sixties i explored alot of things with the help of cherry bombs,m-80's,etc. And found out that alot of "rattlers" in spray can's were ball bearing like,Steel that is,BUT i have also seen glass ones! At a later time,Most likely when more chinese exports flooded this country.Thank you for your input&HAPPY HUNTING!!!

 

[tokenhead]

The railroad marbles are machine made, this one is handmade. I don't know what it was... didn't the really old carbonated drink bottles have a marble sealing the top?

After looking at the link provided by Ant it was said this process started in 1885-90 which would support " hand-made ",Also a color was mentioned..I am posting a pic of another i found along w/the Amethyst one but much smaller(approx.10mm),My piece of glass YES it's hand-made solely based on pontil,Obviously(?) the sphere was held by a glass rod of sort's.Where these use for the railroad? I do not know!,I truely appreciate your input cheese!

 

[cheese]

They were of no use for the railroad, they are called that because they are commonly found along railroads where they bounced out of the rail cars. The marbles weren't really marbles if you define a marble as a glass toy, because they were not toys... they were just gobs of glass. The glass had to be put into some form to be shipped and re-melted into whatever product (usually fiberglass), and marbles (or glass balls) were easy to ship, move, and remelt. They often had many defects and wrinkles because they didn't care about quality, they were just material. The color was usually a coke bottle color green and were normally made on marble making machines the same as the toy marble manufacturers used.