Marbles - do I have something valuable?

I need an organized place to start my research from - that's why I created this lens.

It's a work in progress so bookmark it. I will add content as I discover it, write it myself if I have to.

That having been said... I work in an eBay drop-off store in New Jersey. People bring in all sorts of things for us to sell. I should write a lens about some of the moldy, mildewed things I've seen. Toys are usually fun to sell. Slot cars, trains, Matchbox, Hot Wheels, GI Joes, Barbies - they all bring in good money.

One day a customer who cleans out houses brought in a box of old marbles he found. Long story short - he had about 116 marbles. Sixty some were really trashed - chipped and nicked up. The other good 50, we put in 10 lots of 3 to 8 marbles each.

One lot did not sell.

The other 9 lots sold for a little over $1,400.00. The 8 blue and silver marbles in the picture, the ones with the oxblood corkscrew... those 8 marbles sold for over $700.00. We might have made more if we sold them individually.

Marbles are measured in 16ths of an inch. You can use a micrometer or caliper to accurately determine the size. Here is a chart of decimal equivalents for measurements in 16ths.

1/16 = .0625
1/8 = .125
3/16 = .1875
1/4 = .250
5/16 = .3125
3/8 = .375
7/16 = .4375
1/2 = .50
9/16 = .5625
5/8 = .625
11/16 = .6875
3/4 = .75
13/16 = .8125
7/8 = .875
15/16 = .9375

1. Use a tripod, or set the camera down and use the timer.

2. Use the macro (flower symbol) close-up camera setting.

3. Try to photograph in sunlight.

4. Edit the picture with a program like Photoshop, to crop the image in a circle, and eliminate the background.

5. Photograph any flaws.

6. Rotate the marble to photograph all sides.

One of the best authorities I have discovered is MarbleAlan. He has the marbleallen.com web page and sells on eBay.

Check out his page at with excellent descriptions of damage and explanations on how to grade marbles.

http://www.marblealan.com/FAQ.htm