So you think I lost my marbles. Maybe so, but somebody else evidently did too.These marbles vary widely in condition, ranging from sea glass to almost as good as new. One in the center shows a manufacturing defect. When you inspect it closely, you can see how the glass failed to fill in one swirl.
Like I often say, I enjoy eye-balling and have found everything from watches, to gold rings and chains, cobs, shipwreck spikes, bills, Indian points, fossils and even a grape shot without a metal detector.
I got the following paragraph from Kovels Komments,an online ezine by Kovel. Kovels produces numerous books on collectibles (http://www.kovels.com/archives/komments.html).
"From about 1900 to 1950, Ohio was the marble-producing capital of the world. Glass marbles for children came from dozens of Ohio glass companies. ... Only two marble factories remain in the United States. This week a group of collectors bought some glass and arranged to fire up the furnace at one of those two factories--Jabo Inc. in Reno, Ohio--to make one more batch of marbles. The 1-inch marbles came out of the kiln with multicolor speckles in the glass. Each one of the 120,000 marbles is different. Value now: probably $10 to $100 apiece, but none are for sale. Record price for any marble sold at auction: $7,700 for an Indian swirl marble that auctioned in New York in 1995."
You might be wondering why I posted a photo of marbles. One reason is because of this article, and the other reason is that it goes along with my suggestion in yesterday's post about keeping your eyes open while detecting. All of the marbles in the photo were found along waterways on the Treasure Coast. All of them were found one at a time on different outings. They aren't impressive as finds, but they are the type of thing you might see while detecting. And they might be more significant than you'd think.
The marbles got to where they were found somehow. There were evidently people in the area at one time, and the marbles tell you that, and they also give you some idea about when those people (or should I say children) were there.
Clues like this are sometimes more valuable than gold because they can point you to multiple future finds. They can point you to an abandoned homestead, playground or recreational facility.
Here is another piece of advice from Kovels on another subject.
"...Be very careful when buying "antiques." Most countries do not allow important antiques to be taken out of the country. Many countries, like Morocco and Mexico, have been making copies of their antiquities for centuries--and that is what is found in their tourist spots. Even the letters guaranteeing age are faked. It is a case of "Buyer Beware." Be very wary of anything that's a great bargain."
And for you bottle hunter's, here is Elmer's Bottle Tree ranch. The guy inherited his father's bottle collection and didn't know what to do with all of the bottles. Of course, if you are talking about gold or silver coins or jewelry or something ike that you keep them in a bank safe deposit box. But here is Elmer's solution to the bottle problem.
http://onthegowithamy.blogspot.com/2008/07/elmer-longs-bottle-tree-ranch.html
What bottle hunter/collector hasn't wondered what to do with all of the bottles. I know of one collection that was stored on a shelf that crashed, leaving all of the best bottles in pieces.
Here is some good coverage of the BP oil leak. It has some interesting things on deep water technologies and sea currents that you might find interesting or relevant. I thought it was interesting. You might too.
http://oilprice.com/Environment/Oil-Spills/Before-the-top-kill-process-could-begin-however-it-was-necessary-to-significantly-modify-the-blow-out-preventer-BOP-that-sits-on-the-top-of-the-oil-well.html.
Forecast and Conditions. I showed a good selection of beaches yesterday. As you saw nothing much was going on despite the six foot seas. I'm sure there are some new dips or small cuts somewhere if you look around enough. Nonetheless, I'm keep my 1 rating on the Treasure Coast Treasure Beach Detecting Conditions Scale.
The wind is out of the northwest and the wind is down to about 4 feet. Seas will be decreasing through the week. That doesn't give much hope for much improvement. I would check out the beach at low tide. There are some pretty good tides going on.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
