Topic: How can you identify green uranium glass (without UV light source)?

[RoynMargaret]

http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-7536

http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-7535

http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-7534

http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-7533

http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-7532

All were photographed in natural daylight without flash. The only one I am confident of is the candlestick. I am reasonably confident that all items date from the 1930s - 1950s.

Any additional information about makers/designers would be gratefully received. I originally attributed the pedestal bowl (10-in diameter) to Sowerby, but now have some doubts.

[selina]

Ive found its impossible to tell unless I have my little mini blacklight with me. I have seen some gorgeous pieces of glass and been positive they will glow, only to find they dont. Even those with a seemingly daytime glow to them.

I also have a flower set which is the lady, frog, bowl and two matching side bowls. All look identical, frosted green...only the two bowls have no uranium in them at all and the rest glows like the blazes. I was very disappointed when I bought the set, believe me. So....I dont know how you actually can unless you had a counter

Trudy

[RoynMargaret]

Selina - I could get a mini blacklight, but thought they were expensive - can you direct me to a source please?

[Lustrousstone]

I'm not bad at it
1. probably
2. No
3. definitely
4. No
5. No - Sowerby uranium is a yellow green, this is later non-U Sowerby

Halfords sells a UV kit for oil testing. It's a pen light with good UV levels (tried and tested) (and orange goggles so you can play CSI) at £5.99, relatively expensive but no postage and effective. A worthwhile investment if you're selling, as U glass attracts a higher premium. Don't forget it must be a very very bright green glow and that colours other than green/yellow may contain uranium. If the glow is pale and fuzzy and you can't see it in daylight then it's not uranium. It's also the quality of the glow rather than the quantity.

[selina]

You can get the mini lights cheaply on ebay...sorry for the big link but that gives you a few lowest priced ones...

http://search.ebay.com.au/uv-light_W0QQcatrefZC6QQcoactionZcompareQQcoentrypageZsearchQQcopagenumZ1QQflocZ1QQfromZR10QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ3QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQga10244Z10425QQsabfmtsZ1QQsacatZQ2d1QQsaobfmtsZinsifQQsaprchiZQQsaprcloZQQsaslcZ2QQsbrsrtZd

I have also bought the kids UV pens that they use for invisible writing..they are usually under $10. The one I take out is a little one on a key chain..its enough to hold the piece in your hand, half covered...and shine the beam into it.

[Angela B]

I do think buying yourself a blacklight would be a sound investment, and they can be very cheap. The one I use is intended for seeing hidden marks on stamps for stamp collectors.
Without a blacklight it is easy to make mistakes about whether glass contains uranium. Some glassworks made some designs over a long period, using uranium in the years before about 1940 and other coloring agents after the war, so you can easily get a set that has some items containing uranium and some not. They may even have been kept in storage for years and sold as a mixed set  originally.
The only one of your pictures I feel sure I can identify is the last one, the large pedestal bowl. Sowerby definitely made that design, although I think it may have been copied by some other glassworks.

[RoynMargaret]

Thanks for all that.

Looking at the adverts, some of the "keyring" and small torches appear to just have LED bulbs. I have a webcam with LED lights - but can't get the room dark enough until night time to test whether they make anything glow

Alternatively: Would this be good enough? It's cheap and so is the postage - and not a million miles from my part of the world  There are several other apparently similar items at around the same price or even cheaper.

http://tinyurl.com/2h4da4

The only one previously that I had any confidence in was this at £12.99 + £6.99 P&P, so there is quite a price differential for something I would rarely use.

http://tinyurl.com/24tfez


I like bright green glass and buy it anyway, not because it is uranium, but it's always nice to know - I have picked up on the added value aspect 

I am somewhat relieved about the large bowl - I had identified it as 1933 Sowerby, then started to have doubts.

[Lustrousstone]

If you cannot say that it is uranium with an LED UV light in daylight then it's not uranium! If you hold the torch close to the glass and turn it on you should either see a bright green beam in the glass in clear glass or a bright green blob in translucent/semi-opaque glass. A larger UV torch really is not necessary for ID purposes. I collect uranium glass and only ever carry a UV torch with a single UV LED. As I keep reiterating, if you cannot see the glow in daylight (semi-shaded if bright sun) then it's not uranium. The pen you show would be fine

Your webcam seems, to me, to be unlikely to have UV lights 

[RoynMargaret]

LOL I meant the camera lights will not come on at all until a ceratin level of gloom is reached. I was fairly sure they were not UV LED bulbs, but I'm still learning.

One of my concerns is to be able to capture the glow in a photograph, hence my looking at relatively large UV lights

[Anne]

Roy I carry one of those penlight types in my bag always and it works fine whatever the light level. Mine was £1 in a cheap shop but places like WH Smith's have them as well... marketed as spy pens for kids, or security pens for grownups.