Marble ID/era?

cyberborikua · May 5, 2011

Found this marble in shallow river waters in the woods. Anyone can help with ID and timeframe?

ivan salis · May 5, 2011

looks like a type (called "swirl" ) commonly made in west virginia in the 1940 / 50's time frame

cyberborikua · May 6, 2011

ivan salis said:
looks like a type (called "swirl" ) commonly made in west virginia in the 1940 / 50's time frame

Thanks. I'm amazed that it could be that old.

Marbleguy · May 8, 2011

It's much easier to date marbles..

..when they're dug from buried strata with associated artifacts. I look for coins,etc in good condition. Something that can be dated.

cyberborikua · May 8, 2011

Re: It's much easier to date marbles..

Marbleguy said:
..when they're dug from buried strata with associated artifacts. I look for coins,etc in good condition. Something that can be dated.

I found that marble in the shallow waters of a river. It was right there on the surface. Now, I was originally looking for old bottles. Most of the bottles dragged by this river were from the 50s or earlier.

ivan salis · May 9, 2011

uh like I said --1940's / 50's era west virginia swirl type marble . --kids were most likely drinking sodas and playing marbles by the river. --when that one got lost.

in the 60's the ( imported from japan) clear catseye type marbles gained in favor ,, and the non see thru white with a color "swirl" in it type made in west virgina (usa) lost it's top spot in the marble world .

being born in 1961 * I was a marble playing kid in the late 60's -- I played marbles with mostly catseyes but often would run across kids with marbles from their dads / uncle / older brothers "hand me down" marble collection (40's /50's era) , that had west virginia "swirl" marbles in it

it might be very worthwhile to metal detect the shoreline area by where you found the marble at --you might have found a 1940 /1950 kids "play area spot" along the river -- you might find 1940 /50's era coinage -- 35% silver "war nickles" ( from 1942 -1945)-- wheat cents (1958 and before) plus 90% silver dimes and quarters & halfs were everday type coinage (1964 and earlier) -- plus theres old metal tootise toy type items , pewter metal soldiers and such

the 50's era soda bottles you are pulling out of the river most likely got chucked into it by the kids playing along the rivers edge near there . (beer and booze bottles by adults) --- just like folks today the folks back then were "litter bugs" and threw stuff in the river.

cyberborikua · May 9, 2011

ivan salis said:
uh like I said --1940's / 50's era west virginia swirl type marble . --kids were most likely drinking sodas and playing marbles by the river. --when that one got lost.

in the 60's the ( imported from japan) clear catseye type marbles gained in favor ,, and the non see thru white with a color "swirl" in it type made in west virgina (usa) lost it's top spot in the marble world .

being born in 1961 * I was a marble playing kid in the late 60's -- I played marbles with mostly catseyes but often would run across kids with marbles from their dads "hand me down" marble collection (40's /50's era) , that had west virginia "swirl" marbles in it

it might be very worthwhile to metal detect the shoreline area by where you found the marble at --you might have found a 1940 /1950 kids "play area spot" along the river -- you might find 1940 /50's era coinage -- 35% silver "war nickles" ( from 1942 -1945)-- wheat cents (1958 and before) plus 90% silver dimes and quarters & halfs were everday type coinage (1964 and earlier) -- plus theres old metal tootise toy type items , pewter metal soldiers and such

the 50's era soda bottles you are pulling out of the river most likely got chucked into it by the kids playing along the rivers edge near there . (beer and booze bottles by adults) --- just like folks today the folks back then were "litter bugs" and threw stuff in the river.

Thanks for the info. Yes, I must definitely keep working on that area. Now, the river crosses various forest preserves, that were and are still picnic areas. These parks have been detected extensively, but of course there are still many, many more to explore and retrieve. Found many nice old soda and milk bottles. I need now to strive for the silver as well.

cheese · May 18, 2011

Looks like that one was made by Peltier.

2bits · May 26, 2011

When I was a kid in the 50's we played marbles a lot. When a marble got dinged up we used to shoot them in our sling shots, birds etc. Could be what you have?
HH, RCW

cyberborikua · May 27, 2011

cheese said:
Looks like that one was made by Peltier.

Yes indeed. Beautiful marbles, but it could also be a West Virginia swirl.

cyberborikua · May 27, 2011

RCW said:
When I was a kid in the 50's we played marbles a lot. When a marble got dinged up we used to shoot them in our sling shots, birds etc. Could be what you have?
HH, RCW

I had a very nice collection of marbles I won from my friends when I was a kid (late 60s/early 70s). Then my youngest uncle passed his own collection to me (late 50s/early 60s), but little by little they all disappeared. :dontknow:

cheese · May 27, 2011

cyberborikua said:
cheese said:

Looks like that one was made by Peltier.

Click to expand...

Yes indeed. Beautiful marbles, but it could also be a West Virginia swirl.

Actually, Pelts were made in Illinois. This one is easily identified as a Peltier rainbo, although pelt did make swirls as well, not a West Virginia swirl. West Virginia swirl is a name given to many marbles from several different companies located in West Virginia and some are hard to identify even for experts. The companies that made swirls that get lumped into this category are Alley, Cairo, Champion, Davis, Heaton, Jackson, Playrite, and Ravenswood. Most of the older swirls seen are going to be either Alley, Champion, or Ravenswood.

Maybe more than you cared to know, but thought I'd share.

cyberborikua · May 28, 2011

Actually, Pelts were made in Illinois. This one is easily identified as a Peltier rainbo, although pelt did make swirls as well, not a West Virginia swirl. West Virginia swirl is a name given to many marbles from several different companies located in West Virginia and some are hard to identify even for experts. The companies that made swirls that get lumped into this category are Alley, Cairo, Champion, Davis, Heaton, Jackson, Playrite, and Ravenswood. Most of the older swirls seen are going to be either Alley, Champion, or Ravenswood.

Maybe more than you cared to know, but thought I'd share.
[/quote]

Oh my Goodness I feel so inadequate on this topic. I'm so sorry. I looked at
some Peltier Rainbo marbles online and I could see my marble among them. Now, as far as the style, would you say that it is a Transluscent base Marble King Rainbo Patch hybrid? I found yet another marble that resembles a Peltier Glass Marble~Hybrid Rainbo~Cub Scout/Bumble Bee, but it is much smaller. Any further help would be much appreciated.

ivan salis · May 28, 2011

well no ones perfect -- gave it my best guess -- looked like a WV type swirl to me -- but I guess its a ILLINOIS peltier rainbo .-- older marble anyways --could tip off good metal detecting spots still. :wink:

cyberborikua · May 29, 2011

ivan salis said:
well no ones perfect -- gave it my best guess -- looked like a WV type swirl to me -- but I guess its a ILLINOIS peltier rainbo .-- older marble anyways --could tip off good metal detecting spots still.

No problem. :icon_thumleft:

The woods where I found the Peltier marble is one of my favorite spots to detect and the favorite of many other folks in the hobby. I have found piles of clad, but never a silver coin so far, as other spots have given me. Now, this site is huge so there got to be at least a few good old coins somewhere for me :icon_scratch:

. I just got an e-trac and will try it there as soon as the soil dries up. It has been raining a lot this Spring season and the soil by the river is still not good for MD. But I love to MD in the woods and hope to find lots of goodies :headbang:

cheese · May 29, 2011

Shoot, there ain't a thing wrong with guessing at marble types. It takes years to learn all the different types and companies and what characteristics are common to each... and even then, it is extremely difficult if not impossible to tell the differences at times. I think Duffy is the best guy here for IDing marbles.

The pelt is a common rainbo with no special type or name. Not a patch, and Marble King is another company entirely. The black and yellow one kinda looks like a vacor/mega to me. Probably near the same age as the pelt or newer. Some people might call it a bumblebee, but to me, marble king is the only one that made a true bumblebee.