Marbles That Glow Under Black Light

Many vintage marbles were manufactured with uranium infused glass.

Marbles that glow under black light.

The glow light keeps the teeth from the disgusting yellowish color. When illuminated by ultraviolet light the glass shines an intense and stereotypically radioactive green. Some vintage marbles will glow under black light because they were made with a small quantity of uranium. Tooth whitener or other enamel product used on our teeth will glow under black light.

Next time you score a big batch of new marbles try to guess which ones will fluoresce and put them in a pile next to the rest. The selling point wasn t the glow which is something enjoyed by modern collectors but much more subtle coloration. Both green depression glass and vaseline glass will glow under a black light due to the uranium oxide content in the glass. 920s nobody was walking around with a pocket black light to make their marbles glow so the novel appearance of marbles in such a situation would not have been a consideration.

Then flip on the black light and be surprised. Scorpions glow in black light the emperor scorpion has a dark color on human naked eyes but when it is under the black light it become blue green colored. Old burmese glass fluoresces a similar yellow green color. The marbles are perfectly safe to handle though because the uranium has been encased.

Why do some vintage marbles shine brilliantly and some simply react to the presence of the black light like any other glass. Some people report that american brilliant cut glass also casts a yellow hue.