What is the very oldest thing you own?

My jewels

My body.

Milo here; Same answer. Gail, except that she is even older (and she is the antithesis of cool).

My GE clock/radio… 28 years cost $19.99 from Sears or Consumers Distributing. Perfect working order.

The universe

@ragingloli If you own the universe…. than I claim dibs on the Omni-verse.

@talljasperman, cool! Those old clock/radios just seem to last forever, huh?

@Jonesn4burgers I’m listening to the radio right now… an amber alert about a 5 year old boy missing for 3 days.

Wow. I sure hope he is found still okay.

I’m not an antique fan, used to have some pieces, but these days it would probably be a vintage, 40 yr. old persian rug I inherited from a dead family member about 10 years ago. Beautiful rug, huge, 9×11 with gorgeous colors and a solid wool pile about 2.5 inches deep. Wonderful rug but it weighs a freaking ton!

Rolled up it is probably about 80–100 lbs. and takes 3 people to carry it. haha

1721 King George the First copper farthing. Found it 17 years ago in a school yard swing pit.

I have 100’s of items (glass, furniture, etc.) that are Victorian, so date around 1880. I have at least a couple of pieces of glass made only from 1788 to 1873. There are a few Civil War era things about, and I own a number of County History books that were published around 1876 (President Grant charged every existing county in the United States with writing a history of the Centennial while there were still living witnesses).

I doubt there’s much here before 1800, but we so indiscriminately hoard high-value, low cost, really cool, stuff that it’s anyone’s guess. Honestly, if we don’t know a lot about something, we won’t pay a lot of money, and if we don’t pay a lot of money, we don’t obsess over value. Most of the stuff in the house is 1875–1940 with some modern upholstered for comfort.

I did have a 1909 Armstrong upright grand piano for many years, similar to the ones pictured below.
It had gorgeous carvings and was solid Mahogany. I moved that monster about 3 times in 10 years and finally, as cool as it was, I sold it to an admirer.

Talk about an anchor!
That thing was a beast to move. Ugh, my ex husband hated me for that piano. lol

www.antiquepianoshop.com/products/early-20th-century-upright/?page_num=2&decade=&brand=0&status=0

I have a sugar bowl my great grandmother was given by her mother that I’m holding onto until my daughter is ready to have it.

It’s probably 150 years old at this point.

I have a set of two hand-painted rectangular dishes that date back to the 1940s from my grandmother.

I have a set of art books with copper-plate etchings printed in them from about the same time. Maybe 1930s. These came from an aunt.

I also have my father’s US Navy dog tags from circa 1966.

My Cat’s Eyes marble collection

@Tropical_Willie, wow, what a cool find!
@Coloma, too bad you had to let the piano go, but I sure can understand the moving aspect.
@cookieman sweet. I wish I could see the etchings.
@CWMcCall Cool. I love the old marbles. I keep feeling tempted to go back to the farm where I grew up and see if I could dig up my old ones. The house is gone now, the owner lives somewhere else.

@Tropical_Willie My ex had a hand forged slave token coin from 1753, came from somewhere in the deep south, maybe Missisippi? It was really cool.

1753 Spanish gold dabloon (one escudo). I bought it from a professional coin dealer and it came with a certificate. I never look at it. It sits locked away in a concrete cave with iron doors.

My parents.

A pair of shorts I’ve had since I was 14. They are 16 years old. I’ve also had the same CRT TV since 2001. Still going strong. I’ll have it till it dies.

My 7 year old cell phone finally lost it’s ability to make a call and any sounds… it is now a phone book. it cost me $35 a month now I have a Samsung Galaxy Mega and It costs $85 a month. I miss my old phone.

A 93 Toyota.

I have a penny from 1930.

A mantel clock that belonged to my grandparents in Russia. It’s well over a century old and still works, though I don’t use it anymore. The sound it makes every hour is maddening. Oh, but do I love that clock.

My beloved goose turned 16 yesterday!
He’s a wise old gander now. :-)

Okay, okay, you want a specific single item, and a story.

Well I’d heard of Nailsea glass as a ‘holy grail’ and seen a few pieces, most of dubious origin. One day I went to an auction filled with the nicest of nice antiques. In a trunk out of the attic (that contained nothing post 1900), was that flask. I kept calculating in my mind what I was willing to pay. $100 in a heartbeat. $200, the outer limit but leave doubts in my mind. “Cripes. What if I find out later that is was a $1,500 -$15,000 piece??”

Have I built the suspense?

Looks like a male chastity belt. haha
Cool!

@ibstubro poke….. WELL?!?

I have several dinosaur bones.

I haven’t read the above responses. Am I sharing the prize with anyone, or is it all mine?

@snowberry, that’s pretty freakin’ old, and I definately want a story with it, but, stand by. @ibstubro is going to finish HIS cliff hanger, while you work out your bone story.
Stay tuned folks, for details to come on flask, and bones. Who will wow us?

I have a cross section of dinosaur bone where you can see the marrow. But my favorite relic might not be a real dinosaur bone. It looks like poop, only it’s a rock. I call it a dinosaur poop rock, or poop rock for short. I’ve had two now. I gave the first to a friend because I never saw her smile. She threw it away, apparently because she never knew how, and she couldn’t see the value of something like this. Then I prayed for another, and I found an even better one a few days later. I’ve been looking for more since, but I haven’t found any.

Recently I dropped my new poop rock, and it split in two. Now I show someone the rock, and they pick it up, then I yell at them for breaking my dinosaur poop rock.

Then I say, “Gotcha!” It’s great fun.

Okay, I have to say your story is not what I expected. Potty humor is one thing, but prehistoric potty humor is an altogether different story. I’m sorry your friend hurt you like that. Who couldn’t appreciate a gift of dino poo?

@Jonesn4burgers LOL, well the story of the demise of the first poop rock is now part of the story I tell. I’ll add a bit of your comments to my story, and it’ll get even better. I’m not sure which is better, having a poop rock, or getting to tell the ever expanding story of my poop rock!

I have some hair from a wooly mammoth. No clue how old it is. I got it at a museum gift shop.

Cool like jewels! Of course, when you show it to friends, you were vacationing in the Himilayas, came across an unexplored location. You were suddenly attacked by what looked like a sabor toothed tiger, but you were too busy skiing for your life to get a good look. A woolly mammoth loomed ahead of you, and you flew by it so close you could reach out and touch it, pinching some hair as you did. LOL

My best friends Alien Nation hoodie. I’ve had it since he died, three years ago. He had it for at least three years before that. Maybe longer.
I don’t usually hold on to things for very long.

A push lead pencil my dad gave me back in the sixth grade. I use it for drawing, still works after all these years. The eraser that was on the end is completely gone though.

A little aeroplane my grandad made out of shell casings during WW2

(Emitting a low whistle) Can you post a link to a photo? I would LOVE to see that.

80 some year old Remington deluxe noiseless typewriter.

My daughter who is in middle school, is fascinated by typewriters. She would be thrilled to see that.
Can you even get ribbon for it?

@Jonesn4burgers It has a ribbon that works somewhat well still, it’s missing the ribbon covers though, it’s a red/black ribbon and I think a shop in town has them. It will take a while to find it again but I’d be glad to take some photos of it.

It’s one similar to this though. http://p2.la-img.com/114/15477/5061351_1_l.jpg

Several religious books (bibles, prayer books) from the 1700s and 1800s.

@Jonesn4burgers – yes, you can, but likely mail order.

I take out my old portable typewriter every 6 months or so just to be sure it’s still working well.

A china cabinet that my grandmother got as a wedding present. The cabinet is 125 years old.

An arrow, preserved underground, from the Maccabee rebellion of 166 BC.

A book of poetry. “Alfred Tennyson’s Poems” complete 1867 edition

I PAID A WHOPPING $12!

Forgive me for yelling, @gailcalled. It was warrented.

^^^^^^ ...... and the current market value is….............
(Antiques Roadshow or Burt’s Swap shop?)

^^^ Dunno, but I now have 2. The second may be a reproduction, but it was even cheaper. I didn’t pay squat and I like them, so I don’t sweat the ‘value’.

I only sell duplicates, bugly, and things I need my investment back out of.

@ibstubro Here is another one like the one you have. It’s an artful take on a powderhorn. https://www.etsy.com/listing/170021400/vintage-pressed-glass-cornucopia-powder?ref=market This one appears to be some sort of flask (intended for liquids)?

Here’s a real vintage powderhorn: http://www.nwponyexpress.com/uploads/images/catalog_src/vintage-powderhorn_src_1.jpg

I have some hand tools I bought as a teenager and still use to this day 35 years later.
I have a trap shot gun I got when I was fifteen and still use over thirty five years later,looks brand new still.

That one appears to be fairly common, @snowberry. I suspect it was commissioned as a commercial container in it’s day, perhaps containing liquor of bath salts. I have one and I was excited when I got it, but have seen many since. Nailsea was cutting edge and labor intensive in it’s day.

I wish I knew how to post a picture of my newest ‘horn’. Victorian monstrosity with an iron cherub or maiden holding a real hollowed out animal horn over their head. You’d surely get a kick out of it, and might help ID it. :)

I have an old 4 sided tape measure used by demolition experts 50 years ago to estimate the exact charge needed to take down various structures be they concrete, steel, or wood beam.

I misread the question. I thought you asked “oddest”. not “oldest”. Oldest would be a Japanese sword or a rifle from 1873..