China Marbles Value
Also check for marbles that are pleasing to the artistic eye.
China marbles value. Before glass marbles became common antique toy marbles were made from ceramics including clay stoneware and china or porcelain. China marbles are marbles that are made with a very dense white clay and then fired at a very high temperature. A marble is a small spherical toy often made from glass clay steel plastic or agate these balls vary in size. No one knows exactly when the first marbles were invented but they date back to the times of the ancient egyptians greeks and romans who played with marbles made of stone clay or polished nuts.
Look for marbles with four colors and clear divisions between the colors. Most commonly they are about 13 mm 1 2 in in diameter but they may range from less than 1 mm 1 30 in to over 8 cm 3 in while some art glass marbles for display purposes are over 30 cm 12 in wide marbles can be used for a variety of games called marbles. From the late 1500s through the early 1700s salt glazed stoneware marbles were made first by the dutch and then later by the germans. Vintage marble prices and value often relate to artistic merit.
There are a number of types of non glass marbles that collectors seek out. Antique glass marbles are highly collectible from handmade examples by german glassmakers of the 1800s to vintage marbles made by machine in the early 20th century by u s. This produces a much heavier marble for the size than a clay or crockery marble. Not all marbles are glass so recognize crockery benningtons stoneware china agates and even wooden marbles.
Sammys runs click on image for larger size vacor mega. Clay marbles were first made in america in 1884 by the akron toy company. Companies like christensen peltier glass akro agate and vitro agate. Some of the decorations can be quite intricate.
Most chinas are painted. Find multi colored marbles with clear distinctive lines. Affordable glass marbles were first made in the 19th century when a special pair of scissors that. The knowledge of rarity and value is what builds a quality marble collection.
Below are examples of some new marbles. Glass marbles are handmade or machine made and may be old sulphides with figurines in the center or may be imports from mexico or china. Most marbles however are manufactured in mexico and china. A collector is more likely to find value in machine made marbles that are opaque too.
While these are all very colorful and beautiful marbles they hold no particular value to collectors other than current face value. Marbles have been made from non glass materials such as wood clay and stone for hundreds if not thousands of years.