How Rare is Each Color of Lake Erie Beach Glass?
Part of what determines the price of each piece I make is how hard it was to find the glass piece. While the wrapping and chain materials aren’t the most precious, the glass itself is precious to glass collectors and aficionados. While I have found thousands and thousands of glass pieces, I’ve maybe found six pink, five red and just one single orange.
Sometimes a particular beach will be more filled with colorful glass based on specific circumstances. Conneaut township park beach, for example, had an illuminating company plant located nearby that dumped cobalt blue and deep purple/black insulation glass into the lake. You can find so much cobalt there compared to any other beach.
Want to know more about rare colors? Read on!
Common Colors and Types
The most common colors of beach glass are clear, amber brown (think beer bottle brown), and green (light and dark). Glass that is still in its original shape. We call it raw if it’s still sharp and shiny. Frosted and somewhat rounded are the next most common.
Moderately Rare Colors and Types
Somewhat rarer are various shades of light blue and aqua blue. Lime green and very vibrant green also fall into this category. Also moderately rare are “jelly beans,” which are very rounded pieces in various shapes. They have a particular shine.
Another moderately rare find is bonfire glass, which is glass that has been melted in a fire and fused with inclusions (sand, wood, dirt) or other glass pieces. These can be brittle and difficult to set.
Very Rare Colors and Types
Lilac Purple and Cobalt Blue are rare to find on most beaches. Even rarer still are pink (often depression glass), yellow, red and other shades of purple. It’s very rare to find an evenly round piece of glass (oval, coin shaped etc).
Extremely Rare/Valuable
Orange glass, marbles, perfect spheres. Uranium Glass and Amberina, which fluoresce under black light, are highly prized and very difficult to come by. Moderately rare colors and very rare colors fused in bonfire glass belong in this category as well.
If you have the good fortune to find a rare piece, I am also happy to wrap it for you! Just reach out at mstakesbythelake@gmail.com.