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FYI: 1850 marks the first use of glass for manufacturing marbles. An artisan would break a marble from the source cane, or pontail, leaving a rough place on the marble, a pontail mark. The worker then ground the unsightly area resulting in a faceted, smooth, and round surface. In or around 1870, this practice was deemed too expensive and discontinued. These old German handmade marbles with the ground and faceted pontail marks can be dated to the earliest handmade marbles, circa 1850-1870.
DESCRIPTION: Two white corduroy ribbons are directly opposite and separated by two yellow ones. The yellow corduroy ribbons have a mixture of opaque and a translucent jelly look that is best seen in the fifth picture. Just below the surface surrounding the inner divided ribbons are two opposing blue and white ribbons separated in both directions by two yellow and aventurine green ones. All of the ribbons, inner and outer, are perfectly spaced. If they miss perfection, it is not enough for the difference to matter. The aventurine content of the various swirls would be an interesting statistic to have. Using the few I have seen as a guideline, I can only guess. I'd be willing to bet they are rare by any definition of rare. The basal pontail mark on this marble is ground, and the other is a melted pigtail, both as clean as the day they left the factory. CONDITION: NEAR MINT(+) With the fantastic shine this marble displays, I'm having a tough time giving a condition rating of less mint. I found a double bubble pop, a manufacturing flaw, that would bring the rating down no further than a mint-minus; see the edge of the marble at about 5 o'clock in the third picture. I was eventually able to find some very faint light wear. You may click here to view the grading system I use. Size 20.03mm or 0.788" at the equator. | |||||
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