Billiard Balls with Letters

B

big_wave_dav

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
A friend at work recently became the owner of an antique Brunswick table. It came with a complete set of ivory ball ( not sure of condition ) & some balls that had letters on them instead of numbers? Has anyone seen balls like this? What kind of game would they have been used for? Scrabble :) I tried to search for threads on letter balls but came up empty.

Also, any infor on possible worth of a set of ivory balls. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Dave
 
More Info on Balls

I've since learned that the balls are marked as follows with a letter on one side & number on the other:
A-1
A-2
A-3
A-4
K-6
K-7
K-8
Q-9
Q10
Q-11
Q-12
J-J ( 2 letters )
J-14
J-15
Brown Ball with a star on it

Looks like there could be a ball or two missing . My guess is they were used for some type of poker game but I've never seen or heard of anything like this.

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Dave
 
big_wave_dav said:
I've since learned that the balls are marked as follows with a letter on one side & number on the other:
A-1
A-2
A-3
A-4
K-6
K-7
K-8
Q-9
Q10
Q-11
Q-12
J-J ( 2 letters )
J-14
J-15
Brown Ball with a star on it

Looks like there could be a ball or two missing . My guess is they were used for some type of poker game but I've never seen or heard of anything like this.

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Dave
Click to expand...
I have one of those brown balls. Definitely not ivory -- some early composite material. The AKQJ balls I have seen are not ivory either, they are just old and maybe crazed composite material. If your friend's are ivory, they would be special. Even the non-ivory has some value with the letters, expecially if they are complete. Where's Bair's Balls or whatever his name is??
 
I vaquely remember a sale of balls like that on ebay that went off!!!! If it is a full set, look around on ebay for completed listings. You will be pleasantly surprised what people payed for those things!

Chris
 
big_wave_dav said:
I've since learned that the balls are marked as follows with a letter on one side & number on the other:
A-1
A-2
A-3
A-4
K-6
K-7
K-8
Q-9
Q10
Q-11
Q-12
J-J ( 2 letters )
J-14
J-15
Brown Ball with a star on it

Looks like there could be a ball or two missing . My guess is they were used for some type of poker game but I've never seen or heard of anything like this.

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Dave
Click to expand...

neat game
saw it in a little restraunt/poolhall in monticello ky once
i was supposed to meet a lawyer at his office next door at 7am
i forgot about the one hour time difference :rolleyes:
so i had an hour to kill
the joint had 4 tables and was packed full,
all playing poker pool at 6am
 
It appears as though the #5 & #13 are missing. Here is a photo of a complete set.

PokerSetBalls.jpg


Rob
 
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