I’m going to break with my tradition of attempting to summarize the origin of expressions, because the explanation at mentafloss is far too interesting to summarize! I’ll list some history I found interesting, but encourage you to read the full description. No one knows where marbles originated, but “…they’ve been found in the ashes of Pompeii and the tombs of ancient Egyptians, and they were played by Native American tribes…”  The link provides numerous names for the various kinds of marbles, and I wonder whether the sack of marbles from my childhood might contain some of the incredibly valuable types. Smaller marbles called “mibs” or “ducks” “…can run from anywhere from $10 dollars to a few hundred dollars.”  “Shooters” start at $50 and go up from there to more than $10,000 for a “peacock Lutx onionskin (whatever that is?) or an “…amber glass Swirl for $10,800.” I suppose I should have the sack of marbles evaluated more closely, although I only thought of them as fun parts of a child’s game!