Marvelous Mibs Marbles Collectors Zone

marrrlee · Joined: 09 Aug 2007 Posts: 122 Location: ca

aj friend came by and asked what this was...I know , or think it is a mineral sphere, but not sure..could you tell me, thank you
its 2inches

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tankgrrl29 · Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 9:48 am Post subject:

hi marlene........i don't know if it's my glasses or the pics, but i can't get a good feel for what that really looks like...i have a 2" mineral sphere that someone gave me - it's really heavy. is yours?
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Chris

"YES WE DID"

marrrlee · Joined: 09 Aug 2007 Posts: 122 Location: ca

yes Chris , its heavy, i thought it was an agate, but not sure. the guy wanted you guys opinion on it...
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Ponkochan · Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:06 am Post subject:

It's does look like a mineral/agate sphere..........although I can't tell whether it's machine-ground or hand-faceted from here. I can't remember seeing an older hand-faceted agate that large, so I'm thinking that it might be a newer type. Although someone else might know more about this than I do. Smile

Here's a website that shows a bunch of different types.

http://www.spherestoyou.com/Sshoppe/sshoppe.htm
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Lizzy

marrrlee · Joined: 09 Aug 2007 Posts: 122 Location: ca

thank you both for your replys
my friend came by again, I think he mainly wants to know the value of it, I told him I wouldn't even venture a guess as to what they would sell for, and I'm also still not sure what exactly it is.
Lizzy, could you tell me what hand faceted looks like or how you can tell, if you know. and thank you for the website, I had been there before because I have a few mineral spheres, however although his looks a lot similar to the agate spheres, none were too exact. But I still think Lizzy is right and that is what it is. Agate Sphere.....any more info I can give him will be appreciated. thank you'

oops, I meant to add new photos I took, the first ones were taken without a tripod

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lstmmrbls · Site Admin Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 696

mineral spheres are very common at many rock and gem shows. 2 inch Common material spheres go for 5-25 depending on looks . Peace,Galen
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Peace,Galen

Ponkochan · Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:28 pm Post subject:

I really can't add much more than what Galen has said.........because I don't know any more about these than he does. Wink

As for being able to tell if a sphere is hand-faceted..........the process is similar to how gemstones are cut. As you can see in this photo, the flat planes/facets are visible. They appear very similar in agates although a little more difficult to detect. You need to look at it in just the right light.

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Lizzy