Up for auction we have an exceptionally large collection of

680 Civil War Period CLAY MARBLES

(PLUS one tiny clear later period marble) 

Picked from a Farmer's Field in Upstate New York

WOW!

You can still smell the earth on these and they are dusty from the dirt.

FOLLOWING ARE SOME DETAILS:

1. How they were found: These were in an old and terribly grimy striped pillow case filled with dirt and hay when we got them. The fellow they belonged to passed away in 2001. We believe this farmer just kept adding to his bag from what he found in his corn fields over the many decades, since they were dirt covered and mixed in with lots of hay, and his son had no interest in them whatsoever. I weeded out most of that to take these photographs, and have been keeping them in this nice clean jar for display. I gently rinsed them in water once when we got them home, but they have not been properly washed, and are still pretty dusty.
2. The colors: There are many blues, greens, teals, browns, bright pinks and purple marbles in this lot. Lots of plain clay marbles too, in subtly different earth tones. Initially, we thought to break up this massive lot and sell them off in groups, but decided that it's really neat to have all of these amazing marbles stay together! One never seems to find this many in the same lot from the same place all at once!
3. Types of finish: These are so very pretty and varied. Not all are perfectly round either. Most of them show lots of loss of what looks to be a matt finish paint of dye, and there are a few here that are much smaller and have a very shiney glaze. We're not sur eof the period those very few came from. One even looks to be flow blue. Some have that shiney mottled brown coat to them. Two are broken in half, but what's especially neat about this is that you can see right inside and what kind of clay they are made of!!! You can see what looks liek some air bubbles in the broken ones too, that or sport where theyre were very tiny pebbles. One of those two is distinctly made with a reddish clay. The other a very light gray clay. But the actual colors are hard to perfectly describe. There's one tiny little, more modern, clear glass marble mixed in with yellow, blue, white and pink swirls in the center. Not sure where that one came from, but since we found it in the bag with all the rest here, we're leaving it in.
4. The Jar and Questions: Please feel free to ask us any questions whatsoever about these marbles before casting your bids. We'll answer them for you. This jar they are shown in is new and optional for you, and nothing special, but it does show off the marbles nicely, and looks great on the chair-side table...makes one want to just reach in and take a few to play with! So, please let us know if you want it with the marbles or not; since you may have other plans for this extraordinary lot of 680 Civil War Clay Marbles!
5. How they will come to you: When these marbles come to you, they will arrive in seven bags: 6 bags containing 100 marbles each (!!!!!!) plus an extra bag containing 81 marbles that includes some of the more unusual ones to the lot such as the glossy finish flow blue and mottled brown marbles, the two that are broken in half (which I have counted in), that odd-one-out tiny clear glass marble, and a number of other unusually bright pink ones, and dyed ones, or unpainted various clay colored marbles.

This is one of the neatest, most interesting historic finds that we have ever come upon or had to offer. Thanks for looking, and good luck bidding. With all the wonderful items you can acquire through the eBay online stores, we're glad for your interest in ours.

If I was into marbles, I'd be BREATHLESS over this collection!

Please note that all of the items we sell are either antique, vintage, used or in some cases rare, and will show signs of wear. We try to describe and show each item we list as accurately as possible, and if we’ve missed a detail in the description, it would never be intentional since we aim for our buyer’s complete awareness and satisfaction. Our pride is in offering uniquely wonderful finds for reasonable prices. Please feel free to ask us any questions prior to bidding so that you can bid with confidence! All NY State residents please add 8% sales tax to your payment if you pay before we send your invoice. The service we use to ship nationally and internationally is USPS Priority Mail. The rates listed for shipping this item are predetermined based on size, weight, value and dependability and are not negotiable. Thanks for viewing our auctions. We appreciate your interest. Happy Bidding! We update our inventory every week, so please continue to visit our online eBay store, AntiqueFinderCNY, for other hard to find antiques, rare books, and unusual specialty & collectible items!