# Marble Help?!?!?!



## brianwi (Oct 16, 2004)

Can someone please tell me something about this marble.  My brother found it while we were detecting road construction!


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## brianwi (Oct 16, 2004)

Here is a different look


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## woody (Oct 16, 2004)

I believe it is a clay marble made in Bennington, Vt.


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## Maine Digger (Oct 16, 2004)

Woody is right on the money...that's a very nice sample of a Bennigton glazed clay marble. The 'eyes' are from where the marbles touched each other during the firing / glazing process. From your picture, your's appears to be the 1-3/4'' size, in good condition, they can fetch $50.  Really nice find[]


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## KentOhio (Oct 16, 2004)

It's called a Bennington, alright, but there's really no evidence that they were made in Bennington, Vt. People used to think so, but not anymore. The name just stuck. 
 I don't think yours is that big, is it? One in about 1/2 inch size, which I think yours is, unfortunately is very common and worth about $1.00. They also come in blue, blue and brown, and occasionally green or pink.


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## woody (Oct 16, 2004)

With a little research I did find this on an internet marble collecting site.

 "Bennington marbles are a type of glazed clay marble. They are not very dense. The marbles are fired clay with a salt glaze on them. Benningtons are readily identifiable by both their coloring and the little "eyes" that they have on them. These are spots where the marbles were touching each other while they were being fired, resulting in those spots being uncolored and unglazed. The term "bennington" is actually a misnomer. There is no evidence that they were ever made in Bennington, Vermont, or that they have any lineage to the Bennington pottery that they resemble and from which they get their name. It appears that all Bennington marbles were imported from Germany."

 That sheds a little more light on the subject.


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## Maine Digger (Oct 16, 2004)

Brian, what's the dimensions of the marble? I might have been thrown by the enlarged photos[8D]


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## brianwi (Oct 17, 2004)

Wow, thanks for all the posts.  I dont really know how you measure it but it looks about 3/4 inch, definitly bigger than 1/2 inch.  Also, the "eye" actually kind of sticks out and there is only one on the whole marble.  Wouldn't there usually be 2, unless it's an endpiece?
 Here are pics of the "eye." As you can see it "sticks out" alittle on top.


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## brianwi (Oct 17, 2004)

Judge the size for yourself!


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## diggerjeff (Oct 17, 2004)

a 3/4 - 1'' brown bennington has a value of about $1.00 in mint condition. robret block 3rd edition. 1999.


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## brianwi (Oct 17, 2004)

thanks for all the helps guys, i really appreciate it
 I'm also wondering, how old is it?


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## diggerjeff (Oct 17, 2004)

it's about 100 years old or so.


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## Monsonant (Oct 17, 2004)

Hey you guys are good !    Thats all good info . I always put a $2 "Pick " bowl of Marbles  on the table when selling at flea markets  The  Benningtons always sell very well at that price .  They also sell well if you save up a bunch and put them in a wooden bowl and sell the marbles and bowl as a lot . It has a great county look . They (along with the colored "Commies " Common Clays ) are the Non-collectors marble of choice.  The pinks are pretty difficult to find and the greens are even scarcer . There are also "Specials" which are multicolored combinations of all of the above colors. Pee Wees (Under 1/2" ) are a little scarce . Anything above 1 1/2 in. is a good find. 

 d.e.a.
  Just wanted to add that these were made a 100 years ago as jeff noted and  production continued well into the 1930s.


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## IRISH (Oct 18, 2004)

Anyone know the truth behind the story that Benningtons where put in the cooking pot to stop stuff sticking when it was left to simmer for days ?  I've been told this by a few diggers and it would help explain the amount of them in some tips.
 Photo is of a few of my ones found all around the country, largest one is a bit over an inch across and there is a tiny one in blue and another in brown, one of the brown ones is flecked with little bits of mica or some other metallic looking stuff in the glaze.


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## kumtow (Oct 18, 2004)

My goodness Irish,.........you've lost your marbles.


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## IRISH (Oct 18, 2004)

[] Too true kumtow [] , (they ARE all over my bedroom floor at the moment, note to all=never tip a jar of marbles onto a wooden floor [] ).

 There is also four old Chinese marbles in that lot above.


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