# Selling sea glass on Ebay



## downeastdigger (Jan 9, 2009)

So check this out on Ebay.

 How do you tell this "Hawaiin Sea glass marble" from a marble found at a TOC construction site in,  say Cleveland.  I'm not bein accusatory here, but is there a way of telling?  I've got a jar of marbles that look like this !  I'll sell them for $20 and it will be a bargain deal 

 http://cgi.ebay.com/SEA-BEACH-GLASS-RARE-MARBLE-TURQUOISE-AQUA-BLUE-ANTIQUE_W0QQitemZ130279263261QQihZ003QQcategoryZ41221QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ht_2248wt_909


----------



## farmgal (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Hey bram....

 Nice marbles but they look like the ones I remember as a child. And if I am correct the big tin can of them are still in the closet back home. The tin can is worth more then the marbles most likely. farmgal


----------



## blobbottlebob (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

The seller must be happy. $66 seems like a ton for that. It looks like a regular marble with a matte finish. They don't specify if they themselves formed that from a piece of beach glass or if they found it (already in marble shape) at the beach. I've seen cooler pontilled marbles sell for less!


----------



## tigue710 (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

gotta have a good scheme or scam, on ebay...


----------



## woody (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

I believe it is a pontiled marble.


----------



## Road Dog (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Could be a foreign Sparkler or a Master Marble. At Best ,If it were a German Pontil Mib in mint condition it would not get half that.[]


----------



## Road Dog (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

People collect Sea Glass. Might be something to do with those old Glass Shards.$$$$$[]


----------



## adshepard (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

I've seen some crazy prices for sea glass on eBay.  There have been some ungodly prices on glass stoppers.  I got tons of them and maybe it's time to run them through a tumbler for a sea glass look and make some cash.

 Alan


----------



## farmgal (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

I have sea glass from Cape Cod and New London CT....The memories aren't worth cash to me. I'll keep the sea glass. Sad tho so much has to have a price on it.....farmgal


----------



## Bottleman (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Last year I ran a plain aqua stopper through the bottle tumbler but I used sand and rocks instead of copper. The darn thing brought over $50 to a â€œsea glassâ€ collector. I felt a little bad after doing it though so I havenâ€™t done any since. I can tell you though that a good majority of the so called sea glass objects like marbles and stoppers on ebay are fakes that people run through tumblers.


----------



## downeastdigger (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Yeah Bottleman, I guess thats what I was meaning, how can you really tell if this stuff isn't just tumbled.  I could never lie and say I was selling "sea glass", if it was just broken glass run through a tumbler. My conscience wouldn't allow it.  But look on Ebay at the "surf tumbled sea glass" catagory.  Look at the "items completed", then sort by "highest prices".  There are one or two sellers with very proffesional looking selling techniques who dominate the higher prices, some of which are amazing.  They make me think I should just be down the beach collecting Maine sea glass instead of digging bottles.  
 But then look at the lowest prices paid.  Very similar looking glass pieces are being sold, but not being sold or photographed as professionally, and the are being unsold at .99Â¢.   And they also swear it is "hand picked" authentic sea glass, never tumbled or altered".  

 I can't help but wonder what is the true TRUTH?

 I also wonder how hard it is to tell the difference up close


----------



## glass man (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

I HAVE A GOOD MANY PONTILED MARBLES,MOST ARE CALLED "SWIRLS" AND ARE BEAUTIFUL,VERY COLORFUL, AND MAKES THAT MARBLE LOOK VERY PLAIN.HOPE TO GET PICTURES OF THEM WHEN WE GET OUR NEW SCANNER UP AND GOING.THE EBAY MARBLE LOOKS LIKE A MACHINE MADE MARBLE FROM THE COLORS ETC..I WAS ON MARBLE CHAT FOR AWHILE /BUT JUST CAN'T GET A HANDLE ON MARBLES. SEEMS MACHINE MADE MARBLES ARE MORE DESIRIBLE THAN THE HANDMADE ONES IN MANY CASES![:-] REALLY HAVE TO HAVE ALOT MORE KNOWLEDGE THAN ME TO UNDERSTAND IT!I HAVE TO BELIEVE AS TIME GOES BY THE BEAUTIFUL HANDMADE MARBLES WILL INCREASE IN VALUE.


----------



## Road Dog (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Marbles ain't so bad Glass Man as long as you don't try an figure those West Virginia Swirls. Can't wait to see your pics. I have quite a bunch of Handmades even after selling a bunch off.


----------



## RedGinger (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Bram, on the topic of sea glass marbles, check out those beaches I told you about.  I used to go in the winter and walk along the beach finding them.  It's good when there's too much snow to dig.  Plus, you never know what you'll find.  Winter is supposedly the best time for beachcombing.
 As for the ebay link, there's no way to tell.  I wouldn't want to buy someone else's marbles anyway.  I'd have more fun and they'd have more meaning if I found them myself.


----------



## kastoo (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

nope..

 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160307892600&category=41221&_trksid=p4340.m183&_trkparms=algo%3DSI%26its%3DI%252BC%252BS%252BIA%26itu%3DPSS%252BCRS%252BUCC%252BUCI%252BIT%252BUA%252BSI%252BUS-BWR%26otn%3D8%26ps%3D33

 I've already found two of these quite far inland..lol.


----------



## pyshodoodle (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Here's a good site that shows the difference between tumbled glass and seaglass. There definitely a difference. (Crazy prices, though!)
http://seaglassassociation.org/GenuineVsArtificial.php

 Here's some I threw in the tumbler:


----------



## pyshodoodle (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

One more


----------



## blobbottlebob (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Cool site. They realy are pretty thorough on discussing the difference. Your tumbled pieces don't look half bad either. You find so much broken stuff on the hunt for antique bottles that you throw out. I wonder if there is a legitimate market. Be honest with people - that is, tell them that you tumbled it - but use genuine antique glass shards?


----------



## cyberdigger (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Kate, next time you tumble stuff like this, throw in a few small pebbles.


----------



## pyshodoodle (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Here's more info explaining the difference between seaglass and tumbled glass:
http://reviews.ebay.com/Purchasing-Genuine-Real-Authentic-Beach-Sea-Glass_W0QQugidZ10000000000100279


 I like this part under tumbled glass:
 "some who are a bit more particular then others will actually seek out old bottles which to then turn into tumbled craft glass."

 That would be me. I look for color and texture in the broken stuff and bring it home.


----------



## pyshodoodle (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*



> ORIGINAL: blobbottlebob
> 
> Cool site. They realy are pretty thorough on discussing the difference. Your tumbled pieces don't look half bad either. You find so much broken stuff on the hunt for antique bottles that you throw out. I wonder if there is a legitimate market. Be honest with people - that is, tell them that you tumbled it - but use genuine antique glass shards?


 
 Google tumbled glass and faux seaglass - it's available... Go to AC Moore or Michael's and see what they charge for it! You will be very surprised. 

 Charlie - I tumble it with sand that I steal from the local volleyball court in the park up the street. Sometimes I have rocks in too, but it doesn't really make much difference. (tried to make it cruder looking - didn't really happen) Check this picture out... the sand gets really powderlike after awhile and I put it in my milk bottles.. the other has some tumbled glass in it.


----------



## cyberdigger (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

[8|][8|]that's why I recommend small pebbles, rather than rocks or sand[8|][8|]


----------



## pyshodoodle (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Actually, small pebbles (aka rocks) tend to get stuck in some of the stuff I tumble[], so I prefer the (did I say free) sand.


----------



## downeastdigger (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Psychodoodle  - THANK you for the great link!   That is a GREAT site, and shows exactly what I needed to know.  I'm going down the beach tomorrow morning to see what is there.  Learn something new every day


----------



## pyshodoodle (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Bram - 
 You're welcome! Thanks for getting my name right! Now when you find a couple of those blue or red pieces of tiny broken glass that most of us would never think twice about, you can stick them in an envelope and send them off to me! LOL[]


----------



## downeastdigger (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Sure thing, I'll charge you a discount rate, how bout $10 a piece


----------



## Bottleman (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Just putting glass and rocks in a tumbler is not violent enough to get the real sea glass look. Real sea glass has lots of small pits, tiny dings, and is covered in small half moon shaped bruises. I did a lot of different experiments to see if I could make a plain aqua stopper look identical to sea glass and I accomplished that. With a lot of trial and error I finally came up with this: 

 I filled a bottle tumbling canister with small-medium sized rounded river rock, a little bit of sand, and a small handful of medium-large sized quartz crystals. The right amount of water is key. Too little and it was break the glass, too much and they wont bang around enough. Take a medium sized garbage can that will fit on your tumbler and stuff the tumbling canister in it vertically so you make your self an end-over-end tumbler. I ran it for a day on the slow speed and then took them out and ran them just with sand for about 45 mins or so. If you set my stopper beside a real sea glass one it would be hard to tell the difference. If you are going to try this and plan on selling the stuff, be honest and let the buyer know they are getting tumbled glass. Here is a sketch of the set-up:


----------



## pyshodoodle (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Here's a common deco fruit/jam jar that I like the style of.
 Found some red glass and have some nice colors in here. Sorry - bad light... 

 Bottleman - any advise on how to do this with a regular rock tumbler? I'll probably be experimenting with that! 
 Kate


----------



## cyberdigger (Jan 9, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*





 [/quote]
 ..this is a nice looking composition!!! You have the eye..


----------



## mannequinreject (Jan 10, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Collecting sea glass is what got me back into bottle digging.  Trust me, you can tell the difference between a sea glass marble and a regular one.  I've found about 5 different marbles so far and none of them are shiny like ones we might dig (oddly enough I still haven't dug one).  They all have that pitted frosted look, and most of them won't be completely round anymore, kind of lopsided.  If I didn't have to go to work in 15 minutes I'd post a pic of them all together, but here's one I found recently.


----------



## BDD (Jan 10, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Wow this thread has been a real eye-opener for me. I had no idea beach glass was that collectible. I just searched the completed beach glass listings on Ebay and there are a suspiciously large number of marbles, stoppers and colored lots being sold for big bucks, probably a lot of manufactured stuff being passed off as beach washed. I don't know if I believe that you can tell the difference between a piece of glass that was tumbled and one that was surf tumbled. Buyer beware!


----------



## glass man (Jan 10, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

DANG ALL I NEED IS THE SEA!WITH GLOBAL WARMING IT JUST MIGHT MAKE IT THIS FAR INLAND!{GEEZ,I HOPE NOT] I GOT A BUCKET OF DIFFERENT COLORED SHARDS I GOT FRON THE BOTTLE DUMP YEARS AGO SOMEWHERE IN THIS PACK RAT CLUTTERED HOUSE.I GOT EM TO TRY TO MAKE A SORT OF SMALL STAINED GLASS WINDOW. THE BUCKET OF SHARDS IS FAR AS I EVER GOT. WONDER WHERE THOSE SUCKERS ARE?WHEN I GO LOOKING FOR SOMEN I ALWAYS FIND SOMEN ELSE THAT HAD BEEN MISSING OR I FORGOT I EVEN HAD IT!IT IS JUST A LOT O DANG WORK! OH WELL,GREAT PICS THERE KATE!


----------



## RICKJJ59W (Jan 10, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Here is another cool sea glass site.There are some cool looking things made from sea glass.Check it out.
http://seaglasslovers.ning.com/


----------



## pyshodoodle (Jan 10, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

That's a cool site, Rick! Thanks.


----------



## mannequinreject (Jan 10, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*



> ORIGINAL:  BDD
> I don't know if I believe that you can tell the difference between a piece of glass that was tumbled and one that was surf tumbled. Buyer beware!


 
 Yes, it's actually quite easy to tell.  Tumbled glass is just that, tumbled.  Sea glass, on the other hand, gets a frosty look to it that's only created by the soda and lime leeching out of the glass and crystallizing again on the surface of the piece over a period of 50+ years, and that also varies by the PH of the water.  Which is why "sea" glass from the shores of Lake Ontario is vastly different from New England.  I'm sure several of the links posted mention that for some reason, small "C"S appear in sea glass over time, but not tumbled glass.  Tumbled glass is quite smooth in comparison.


----------



## div2roty (Jan 10, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*



> Here's a good site that shows the difference between tumbled glass and seaglass. There definitely a difference. (Crazy prices, though!)
> http://seaglassassociation.org/GenuineVsArtificial.php


 

 One of the guys behind this association came to our club's meeting a few months ago and showed us some seaglass.  It was by far the best "educational" seminar our club has had in years.  He even brought a piece of seaglass that he had paid around $900 for, which of course had the club members freaking out.  No of us are shocked when someone spends more money for a bottle than a new car cost, but $900 for a small piece of an old bottle and our eyes pop out of our heads.  

 Anyway, I remember him being pretty confident in being able to tell the difference between tumbled seaglass and the real thing.  He even talked about people using sand and rocks in tumblers and he could still usually tell the difference.  

 Personally, I don't know enough about bottles yet to worry about seaglass.........Although I might go to a beach and hunt for some.  It is a great way to decorate the common mason jars.


----------



## kanudigit? (Jan 12, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Hmmm, maybe I'll have to post a few pics of my sea glass...


----------



## capsoda (Jan 12, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Sand blasting can produce a sea glass look to marbles or any other kind of glass. I never knew people were collecting it. 

 And they think we are weird because we dig in dumps and old pooper holes. []


----------



## 808 50th State (Jan 12, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

GLASS BEACH ON THE ISLAND OF KAUAI, HAWAII, THE WHOLE BEACH IS MADE UP OF SEA GLASS, A SEA GLASS COLLECTORS PARADISE.


----------



## 808 50th State (Jan 12, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

FORGOT TO ADD: GOOGLE MAP SEARCH, GLASS BEACH KAUAI, HAWAII, IT WILL SHOW YOU THE EXACT SPOT WHERE THE BEACH IS.


----------



## blobbottlebob (Jan 13, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Here's a marble from the dirt in Wisconsin. It's pretty cool but it's not worth anywhere near that sea glass one.


----------



## adshepard (Jan 13, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Here's what I'm thinking.  I have a home on the shore with a beach that hardly anyone walks on.  As a long term investment I'm going to dump a bunch of marbles in the rocks and sand where the surf line is and just wait for them to become valuable.  I should be able to find a good number of them in a few years.  Sounds like a retirement plan.  []

 Alan


----------



## mannequinreject (Jan 13, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

And where is this beach?[]

 I go to the beach in the winter to hunt for sea glass.  The colder, the better.  I find awesome stuff!  Vaseline glass, marbles, bottle necks...I want to go today but I'm getting sick and my car is in the shop.  I'm itching to go though, because it's been more than 2 weeks!!!

 Compare to the summer, I find nothing.  Zip.  There's so many people collecting it in the summer...


----------



## downeastdigger (Jan 13, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm... New Pics*

It was 5 degrees out this morning, so figured it was a good time to go to the beach!

 After all this sea glass chat and photos, I was anxious to see what I could find.  Here is what I picked up this morning.  They are all pretty, and could be used in mosaics I'm sure, but I found very little that would qualify as "true sea glass"  with the frosted look all around, and little pit marks.  Most of the pieces had some frosting, and smooth edges, but none had had their shapes changed dramatically from tumbling hard in the surf.


----------



## downeastdigger (Jan 13, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm... New Pics*

Heres some glass, not much frosting on these, they have smooth edges though.  Hmmm, I dont even know if I'm on the right track really.


----------



## downeastdigger (Jan 13, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm... New Pics*

This one maybe close, it's pink, and very rounded, and somewhat frosted.  Lousy pic


----------



## tigue710 (Jan 13, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

excellent idea!  No harm no foul I'd say.  I might do the same myself...  I'm guessing if you drop 1000 marbles in you might turn up 20 of em in five years...

 If you live on the ocean you know how things move about...  one of your marbles might wash up in Japan!


----------



## downeastdigger (Jan 13, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm... New Pics*

I think this one is officially sea glass, but it is pretty ugly


----------



## tigue710 (Jan 13, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm... New Pics*

that big ol gloppy lip is nice Bram...


----------



## downeastdigger (Jan 13, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm... New Pics*

I'll throw these on Ebay

 "Freshly hand picked Victorian china shards, found this morning on the rocky coast of Maine".  Starting bid.... $6.99, shipping..... $75.00...  err, I mean $3.00...


----------



## downeastdigger (Jan 13, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm... New Pics*

I guess I could see a jeweler could make a pendant or something out of these...


 Hey Tigue,  are you supposed to be working today?     like me


----------



## downeastdigger (Jan 13, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm... New Pics*

This looks like it was an old fancy bead or a hatpin head


----------



## downeastdigger (Jan 13, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm... New Pics*

cool colors


----------



## downeastdigger (Jan 13, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm... New Pics*

bricks and quartz



 Oh well, I'll try another beach soon, one that has more surf crashing action, maybe I'll find some that is all frosty.

 anyways....

 thats it.

 No whole embossed colored pontiled rare medicines.

 just little chunks of glass

 very sad

 Stay warm !


----------



## tigue710 (Jan 13, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm... New Pics*

hey now sir, it is a lot work instigating arguments on this forum!

 only had about two hours of work today, was back home by nine...  I wouldn't mind so much if the ground was little softer and my truck wasn't broke down!  

 did manage a two hour walk with dogs looking for cellars though later in the morning...  didnt find any...


----------



## RedGinger (Jan 13, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm... New Pics*

Nice pieces, Bram.  Hey some of us work at night.  Being home by 9AM sounds pretty good, though.


----------



## downeastdigger (Jan 14, 2009)

So here is my first shot on selling sea glass on ebay.  It's actually not glass, it's the pottery shards I got yesterday on the beach.  Most of the sea glass pieces I got weren't tumbled enough in the surf, and didn't have rounded enough edges, or the frosted look.  I'm going to look for another spot with bigger surf for that.

 Here's my little ebay experiment, if anyone wants to watch it.

 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200298878925#ht_500wt_924

 If it works, I could see myself out there on the beach when I'm 80, wandering around looking for sea glass    I doubt I could handle a 12 foot privy at that age


----------



## mannequinreject (Jan 14, 2009)

You might be on the right track but those shards look more like something I'd find near the mouth of a river than on the beaches.  There are a couple beaches I've been to in CT that have produced shards like that, unfortunately.

 Hint. Dig through piles of pebbles.  It's where the sea glass hunters usually don't bother.  One time I kicked a marble right out of a pile of pebbles and now I spend hours digging those before I walk on the beach.  Don't bother with large piles of huge rocks.  Some people do and things you find there are bound to be good, but it's like the lottery.

 Also near city piers are good places for old frosty shards.  The thing I love best about sea glass is trying to identify where it came from!

 Winter is the best time!  Check google earth for more beaches .  I've heard Maine can produce some fantastic glass if you know where to look.

 As for your shards on ebay, good luck!  Sometimes it's more in how you market the item...like on artist / handmade sites (artfire/etsy) you would get more money for your effort just by appealing to artists who are addicted to buying supplies. I have several pounds worth of shards but I'm still debating if ebay is the right place for some pounds of mediocre glass. []


----------



## downeastdigger (Jan 14, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

It's funny you say that about the hint Mannequin,  I looked for about a half hour and found nothing much, then just as I was leaving, I got on my hands and knees and dug through this long stripe of small pebbles and found a bunch of shards that were much closer to sea glass than the rest.  I'm going down to one spot this week and picking up a bucket full of china that is just laying around on the ground, really colorful stuff.  I'll see if I can sell it as craft supplies or something.  
 Will be interesting to see if I come up with any good frosty pieces somewhere.


----------



## Trying not to break it (Jan 14, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

hi everyone,  found this to be very interesting.  last year we had the author  richard lamotte of pure sea glass speak at our bottle club.  it was very interesting and he had some really pieces of sea glass.   color, shape and smothness seem to be the key.  i have found some on the eastern shore of md.  here is a pic. of some i have found.   good luck with your search.   rhona


----------



## blobbottlebob (Jan 14, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Does it qualify as sea glass if it's still a whole bottle? This river found gem has a nice matted patena.


----------



## downeastdigger (Jan 15, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Yeah, thats definately a "sea glass" bottle Bob.

 Rhona, that looks like the real deal you have there,  I haven't really found any yet, but now I know what I'm looking for.  It's 2 degrees out today, so I'm gonna wait til it warms up to 20 before I try again


----------



## appliedlips (Jan 15, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Great thread,I would have replied sooner but I was out back,beating the hell out of pontilled sodas & flasks so they would be worth more.[]

    What about fresh water?I've seen some pretty rough looking shards on sandbars of fast moving rivers.


----------



## CALDIGR2 (Jan 15, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

There is a dump at Ft Bragg, CA, where all the material was dumped off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean. There are tons of REAL sea glass objects there. I remember filling cans with all sorts of neat glass. No all sea glass is fake, by any means.


----------



## mannequinreject (Jan 19, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

I see you got a bid on your pottery!  I have to get some of my stuff up soon. 

 Here's all my marbles that I found so far, 3 were from the same beach .  I posted a whole lot more about sea glass on my blog too.


----------



## Stardust (Jan 19, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Bram
 I love your shards and sea glass... so beautiful. Would look so nice used as art work. even pretty just sitting in your bowl.my mind is spinning with ideas.

 Bob
 I love your bottle. what does it say on it? It's look is so relaxing.

 I love the ocean....

 I knocked over my display my sea glass last week. It's now all way behind an end table. I heard a loud smash as I was trying to hang warm drapes.

 Hard Rock Cafe Fancy Drink glass that held the glass had smashed, my good bottles had been spared.

 Praise the Lord, a dizzy dame like me had no right being up there in the first place.

 Silly me! lol...  []


----------



## seaglassmermaid (Feb 8, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Amongst sea glass collectors a "sea glass bottle" is considered to be ultra rare and special!


----------



## seaglassmermaid (Feb 8, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

It is very disappointing that people are sometimes willing to artificially tumble glass and pass it off as genuine sea glass.


----------



## blobbottlebob (Feb 8, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Hey Seaglassmermaid,
 I agree with you that people should not deceive others and that it's wrong to benefit financially through falsehood. However, any privy digger (and I'm not one of them - at least yet) will tell you that sometimes you find more broken stuff than whole pieces. I was just wondering if there is a legitimate market for tumbled pieces of genuine antique bottles. You could be honest. For example; "These are man-made sea glass pieces manufactured from broken bitters bottles". I'm guessing that they still would have some value to people who want to display them. They may not be as valuable as genuine beach glass but I think it may actually sell?? 

 Thanks Stardust. I love the patena on that example. It is an 1870s soda (or mineral) water  embossed EATON & GREEN on one side and WATERTOWN, WIS. on the other.


----------



## appliedlips (Feb 10, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

I was again wondering if the seaglass collector's would consider weathered glass from fast flowing,gravel bottom rivers seaglass?It the right circumstances it can be found to look just like the peices from the ocean.In my opinion it is the same and formed by mother nature and not man. Looking for opinions.


----------



## Trying not to break it (Feb 10, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

hi doug,  in my oppinion it would be.  most of the glass would have gone into rivers and streams and wash down  to the bays and ocean.  the glass i collect is located on the eastern shore of the cheasapeake bay.  the author of the book collects his glass there.   so my glass and his are from the bay not the ocean.   my thoughts[].   rhona


----------



## cyberdigger (Feb 10, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

"SEAGLASS" is (in my you know how important opinion) a generic term for pieces of man-made glass which have been given a good working over by Ma Nature.. time and pressure.. God's great big tumbler.. [8|][8|]


----------



## Trying not to break it (Feb 10, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

hey charlie,   i like your description,  mother nature does a lot of wonderous things[].    rhona


----------



## mannequinreject (Feb 11, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Rhona, I'd say that pieces that are well worn found along a river could be considered sea glass.  The frosting we associate with the pieces on the beach is usually determined by the PH of the water.

 You should see the difference between pieces I've found in Rhode Island vs. the pieces I gathered on Lake Ontario!  The lake Ontario pieces are smooth as silk with no frosting whatsoever, like round pebbles.  Pieces from RI are quite frosted, like the marbles I posted.  Both are considered sea glass....but when trying to sell them on ebay it would be quite a hard sell for the Lake Ontario glass because it's too similar to man-tumbled craft glass.  Surprisingly Lake Erie makes frosted glass, so I guess  the PH is different!  Who would've thought? 

 In either case, whether you tumble the glass yourselves or find it on the beach, both are valuable materials in how you market it to mosaic artists or jewelry artists.  Honesty is always key but it's true that there is a market for both. []


----------



## Stardust (Feb 11, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*



> "SEAGLASS" is (in my you know how important opinion) a generic term for pieces of man-made glass which have been given a good working over by Ma Nature.. time and pressure.. God's great big tumbler..


 
 God's has his hand in many a beautiful thing....
 I like your opinion also...
 ~star~


----------



## cobaltbot (Feb 11, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Yesterday's beachcombing finds from the Chesapeake Bay.


----------



## cobaltbot (Feb 11, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Here's the best piece of sea glass I've ever found there!


----------



## RED Matthews (Feb 11, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Hi cobaltbot;  I have to agree with you.  I assume you are showing us an insulator. of some sort.  It does have a hole through it doesn't it?  Have you found an identity number for it?  Thanks  RED Matthews


----------



## appliedlips (Feb 11, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Steve,That threadless egg is a heck of a nice find.Congrats. Did you just walk up and see it laying there?


----------



## appliedlips (Feb 11, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Thanks for the input Rhona,Charlie,&mannequinreject.

       Mannequinreject,Here are some pictures of some recently found river glass.I don't see a difference between it and any thing I've seen from the ocean.Of course to get this kind of wear it would have to be a shallow,fast flowing river or creek.I would imagine glass from a lake would be pretty smooth.


----------



## appliedlips (Feb 11, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

One of several I'll give a try on ebay with.


----------



## appliedlips (Feb 11, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Industrial marbles


----------



## appliedlips (Feb 11, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160315368921&ih=006&category=41221&ssPageName=STOREROMOBOX:NEWLIST#LISThttp://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...=41221&ssPageName=STORE:PROMOBOX:NEWLIST#LISThttp://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...=41221&ssPageName=STORE:PROMOBOX:NEWLIST#LIST

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=200309136691&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/COOLEST-PIECE-OF-BEACH-GLASS-EVER_W0QQitemZ200309130300QQihZ010QQcategoryZ41221QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262


----------



## cobaltbot (Feb 11, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Thanks Doug and Red.  Sorry - I didn't mean to give the impression I also found that yesterday.  I actually found that one in the same general area a few years ago and didn't know what it was at the time!  Thanks for looking out for me.   Ironically, I can't remember the exact area, though I doubt there's several more lying around - though it would be really cool to find more.

 Red, as Doug said it's a threadless insulator nicknamed a confederate egg.  Some were made in Richmond Va and a cache of them were found there around 1990 or so.  I was lucky enough to find that one and I also have another threadless style (LEFFERTS) I found at a yardsale for five bucks.

 Doug your river glass looks every bit the same as the sea glass from the bays or oceans.  I've found a few of those mallet or whatever huge black glass bases like I did a couple days ago.  I wish I knew where the whole ones were resting!


----------



## mannequinreject (Feb 12, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

See, I never would have expected river glass to come out looking just like sea glass!  I've pulled insulators out of rivers here and you wouldn't even be able to tell they were in a river except that they're wet.  []  I guess it all depends on the location, and with sea glass it's really all about the frosting.

 I was just in an antique store yesterday found dozens of bottles for sale that have been obviously in water for a long time.  Here's what I don't know...how much does water wear decrease a bottle's value?   

 Do you think there's a point where water worn bottles end up worth the same amount for bottle collectors  vs. sea glass collectors...or all around water wear= less worth for bottle collectors, more worth for sea glass collectors?


----------



## downeastdigger (Feb 12, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

Doug, those look really good.  Maybe I'll bid    I have a lot ending soon, I went the bulk route. This was about 3 hours of surf picking, which I have to say is about the most easy going and relaxing activity you can do !

 Here's mine

 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=200307362498#ht_500wt_871


----------



## bythesea (Mar 7, 2009)

*RE: Sea glass marbles ?  Hmm...*

We have a great site dedicated to sea glass collectors and would welcome any glass experts too to help us identify shards from bottles and decorative glass.

 Please apply today for a membership at SEA GLASS LOVERS


----------

