Akro Agate Marbles

Akro Agate Company (1910-1951) was the single greatest producer of American-made marbles. For example, most of the slag marbles that you will find will probably have been made by Akro Agate Co. These were made mostly early in the company’s history. Akro Agate also made many different patch marbles. The most collectible patch marbles were the Moss Agates. These were made also relatively early in the company’s history. Some Akro Agates were also made with a very distinct and unique "oxblood" colored glass, and these command a strong premium. Similarly, Akro Agate also made the so-called "Ade" marbles where the base glass looks to be a translucent lemonade color. This glass is UV florescent because it was made with uranium. The Ade marbles are given the names Lemonade, Limeade, and Cherryade depending upon whether they contained a second opaque glass color, yellow, green, or red glass added as a second stream. All these marbles exist as both patches and corkscrews as described below.

Akro Agate is most famous for its production of “corkscrew” marbles; and was the only company to mass-produce them. These are among the most collectible marbles today. The corkscrew pattern was achieved by combining two or more streams of molten glass that was sheared into marble size pieces, and dropped into a spinning cup. The rate by which the cup spun determined the number of twists in the corkscrew. If the cup was not spinning, a patch marble was created. The bands spiral around the surface when the glass is opaque, and may appear as "Snakes" or "Augers" when the base glass is transparent. Their popularity is not only the result of their beauty, but also because they have never been successfully mass-reproduced, so their authenticity is guaranteed.

Corkscrews are sold be the names on the original packaging or sometimes by names adopted modern collectors. Prize Names are corkscrews with two opaque colors, and those with white base (white and another color) are the most common. Prize Names with a color base glass (that is, two opaque colors) command a strong premium, especially in the more striking or rare color combinations. A corkscrew marble with more than two opaque colors is called a Special, a corkscrew with one opaque color and translucent milky white is called an Ace, a corkscrew transparent clear base with colored spiral is called a Spiral (and is often in the form of a Snake or Auger), and a corkscrew with a transparent color base with opaque white spiral is called an Onyx. One of the most sought after corkscrew marbles are a type of multicolor marbles with a clear base, referred to as a "Popeye" marble. This name arose because of the cartoon character that graced the cover of the box in which they were sold. Generally, these have 2 color corkscrews in a clear base glass. The clear base glass must contain fine white filaments. Each of these marbles are listed in their own category. Click the links below to learn more about these types of marbles .