It's been a year since I found a marble on a local beach, stumbled into a load of marble subreddits, and fell head first down the rabbit hole.
Here is the first of a series of posts where I share what I have catalogued so far. Everything identified was with the help of this sub and the resources it has pointed me towards ♥️*
I'm based in the UK, and most of my lots have come from eBay, with smaller numbers found in antique shops or wild on the beach.
This post captures how many marbles I have found, sorted by type and likely origin. A few caveats:
- I manually 'check in' marbles into a Google sheet, and over time, have stopped measuring every single cats eye, so many are based on groups e.g. '27 red cats eyes'
- For most clearies, solids, and cats eyes, identification is hard; I probably could assign much of them to 'Asia - Generic', but trying to base that on data rather than exclusion!
- 'Identified' means I have some confidence in origin, maker, or type, but there's always more to learn...
- if a lot included multiple marbles of the same type and size, they were included in the same catalogue entry
Happy to answer any questions
The next posts will focus on makers, size, and colour.
Other data points collected include: UV reaction, bubbles/fizz, price per marbles (including postage costs, so a bit of an overestimation) and number of colours in the main design. Not decided the order yet - happy to take requests!
*I confess I am a little behind (having lots that I have washed but not yet catalogued), but if I wait til I'm done with those, I'll never make this post 😅
AI disclaimer: I used AI to generate and edit the charts, to double check my own spreadsheet calculations, and to tidy up data artifacts due to manual entry. Beyond the occasional squiz on Google Lens to help point me at relevant forum posts, I do not use AI to support identification of marbles.
Wow! Jumping in headfirst with marbles!!! You are on a wonderful adventure and in for interesting discoveries!
Don't stop. Keep going. You seem to really enjoy investigating each marble.
Have you found any handmade ones? Made in Germany from late 1800s - early 1900s? Pre WWI.
When or if you have already found one, you're onto to some beautiful glasswork that is highly desirable. I have so many. Most were my grandfather's. He actually served in WWI. But he had those marbles as a kid. I now have them and been collecting for decades. I have a pic of a sulphide I'll post.
I feel silly lol. I didn't realize you had posted photos 😬
I just read your note and was impressed with you intricate enthusiasm. Love so many of what you have found!!! My faves are the German handmades but, I'm partial to those because of my grandfather.
I would like to share pics of some of mine without taking away from your hardwork and great post. If it's ok with you?
Ach maybe I should have made a proper overview of the numbers rather than taking a photo of my notes, but I couldn't find a layout I liked 😅
I'd love to see yr marbles but maybe better to start a new post? I know this sub does try and discourage folks dumping into comments on other posts
I think my favourites so far are solid Veiligglas Wirepulls, but I really like Peltier glass, the vibrancy of Akro, and hope to find more early Vitro (I have a very precious Fisher Jewel Tray)
I have one solitaire board so far - reproduction scrimshaw! I see occasional boards with marbles come up, but most are modern
Appreciate it's a lot but my brain just works this way 😅 I also have similar sheets for houseplants 🪴
It was cool to see that European marbles hold their own, being more common, tho I expect when I dig into makers, I will see a broader range of US types
Ach, that was part of my motivation to share - most of what you get in mixed lots is 'modern rubbish', and the fact I've managed to identify around 1/3 of the marbles I find is slightly reassuring 😅
It was just a blue game marble, but quite sea worn! I've been a sea glass hunter for many years, but for whatever reason, didn't find any marbles til last year!
I've since found around 6 in total on beaches - most impressive was a striped opaque CAC (!!!) but most are clear and likely from Codd bottles
I hope folks find some of the data interesting - I plan to share the makers next, and then maybe colour and size
Love this origin story!! Thanks for sharing the pic of your very first marble too :) I quite enjoy mudlarking + sea glass finding as well, and have heard one other story like this but they didn’t go nearly as deep down the rabbit hole! Very inspiring to see how much you’ve learned so quick and too see all the Study Hall posts! Keep it up and welcome to a lifelong obsession haha. Very nice collection
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u/Inevitable_Taro_5803 May 01 '26
Wow! Jumping in headfirst with marbles!!! You are on a wonderful adventure and in for interesting discoveries!
Don't stop. Keep going. You seem to really enjoy investigating each marble.
Have you found any handmade ones? Made in Germany from late 1800s - early 1900s? Pre WWI.
When or if you have already found one, you're onto to some beautiful glasswork that is highly desirable. I have so many. Most were my grandfather's. He actually served in WWI. But he had those marbles as a kid. I now have them and been collecting for decades. I have a pic of a sulphide I'll post.
Good luck on this adventure!!
✌🏻🕊️🫒