What are the Oldest Objects you Own?

[DNO]

Oldest...probably some Ordovician period trilobites I found near Craigleith, Ontario....400 million years old, or so.

Oldest man made...some first century Roman coins.

 

[JonnyO]

A Firehouse Log Book from August 1903 from FDNY (NYC Fire) Engine 246 which is Stationed in Brooklyn.

 

[rjb1]

Probably the oldest that I can verify is an 1863 Sharps carbine. (not counting the rocks in the driveway...)

 

[splintercellsz]

Two Roman coins from 100-400 A.D.

 

[Giftmacher]

Today's find in "partisan woods"- Bronze axe from late bronze age (Luzice culture)

 

[Horace Debussy Jones]

I am the proud owner of an oil on copper painting that is roughly 250 to 300 years old. Needs cleaned and a minor touch of inpainting. No visible signature, but perhaps cleaning it will reveal one. The frame is original to the piece I believe, and will be left as is with all of it's worm holes and dings.

 

[Oldsarge]

My wife's father was stationed on the Aleutian Islands during WWII. While walking along the beach he looked down and saw a basalt oil lamp carved in the shape of a seal head and brought it home. After some adventures it ended up in our house. How old? No one can tell without C14 testing the lamp black on the inside. But definitely precontact. I took it to the Antiques Roadshow in Anaheim and it was probably the oldest thing in the building. It should air late March/early April.

 

[1mach1]

Oldest...probably some Ordovician period trilobites I found near Craigleith, Ontario....400 million years old, or so.

Oldest man made...some first century Roman coins.

The gauntlet has been thrown down! Now those are old! :eusa_clap

 

[1mach1]

A Trenton anvil circa 1903.

 

[kiwilrdg]

I have some spindle whorls that are about 100 BC, roman coins, etc. but the oldest dated item is a book "Brown's Vulger Errors" dated 1658.

 

[Professor Plum]

A Baroque pastel of a young lady from a Peter Paul Rubens sketch book.

 

[penates]

A cylinder seal from approx 1400 BCE.

 

[scrawlysteve]

Since fossils and rocks are getting included --- I've got a slice of iron nickel meteorite that seems to be about the age of the solar system, around 4.5 billion years.

 

[Michaelshane]

Dinosaur egg.

 

[MissMittens]

Pair of polished bronze earrings from 1st Century Rome

 

[Bugguy]

A dozen various hallmarked English silver napkin rings c. 1900 and my personal favorite, this pre-1900 Meiji period Japanese lead skull...

 

[Matt Crunk]

The oldest man-made items I own are two German made violins from the late 1800's. One is a 4/4 size and the other is 3/4. I can play fiddle a little bit, but my tone is horrendous. It's by far my weakest instrument, but I love having them around. As Mark O' Conner said, "What other invention can you name that reached it's design apex 400 years ago and has not been improved upon since?"

Second oldest is a watercolor painting from the Hudson River Valley dated 1895.

 

[dhermann1]

Circa 1690 Dutch brick excavated (and nefariously absconded with by the person who gave it to me years ago) from lower Manhattan.

 

[Tarwater]

A few straight razors from the late 1800s and an S.L. Stein photograph of a blacksmith at his anvil -- dated 1863. At least those are the oldest I can think of.

 

[GE-Man]

A mathematical book from 1790 about geometry with old illustrations.