What's the Oldest Man-Made Article that You Own?

[returntorolex]

My great, great grandfather's discharge papers from the Civil War. Dated 10/17/1865.

[vipereaper30]

My oldest is a 2,000ish year old Roman pottery piece. My wife hates it!

[DJ TT 2002]

I think my Mother In Law may be an immortal !!!!!!

[Any4xx]

Haven't ever given it much thought. But I do have a 1937 Chevrolet Coupe in the garage. I'd have to go through my "junk drawers" to see if there's anything older.

[HL65]

1791 Isaac Collins Bible, first one printed in USA in Trenton NJ. Still complete in its original binding with family history dating back to purchase and notes written inside as well.

[mailman]

Originally Posted by hl65

1791 isaac collins bible, first one printed in usa in trenton nj. Still complete in its original binding with family history dating back to purchase and notes written inside as well.

😳😱

[bdex75]

Since it is a watch forum. 40's from what I understand. Beautifully clean Valjoux 22 column wheel movement. It is at the watch spa right. Ow getting a movement service. Cleaning up the case but keeping that dial and handset just like it is.
movement pic is from Ebay seller I bought it from.

Being in the life insurance business I have collected a lot of old policies from the early 1900's from the firm I work for. We go all the way back to 1875 so I am always on the hunt for older ones.


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[GradyPhilpott]

Originally Posted by bdex75

Since it is a watch forum. 40's from what I understand. Beautifully clean Valjoux 22 column wheel movement. It is at the watch spa right. Ow getting a movement service. Cleaning up the case but keeping that dial and handset just like it is.
movement pic is from Ebay seller I bought it from.

Being in the life insurance business I have collected a lot of old policies from the early 1900's from the firm I work for. We go all the way back to 1875 so I am always on the hunt for older ones.


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Very nice!

[SDRider]

Hmm, I have some tea cups that belonged to my grandmother... not sure how old they are though. They are RS Prussia and quite delicate.

I have some Beatles albums on the Apple record label. Those are almost 50 years old.

[MaxEight]

Oh boy, antiques, my favorite things

I've got a copy of the US Constitution from 1852, and first edition prints of US Grant's memoirs from 1885. But old books are easy to find, especially around NYC, socked away in boxes or attics for years, untouched. So here's something you don't see every day, a wear item that should have been thrown away 120 years ago - an Edison light bulb.

This particular lamp was made around 1890-95. Carbon filament, still has the old gas evacuation nipple at the top of the glass, and if you look closely you can find fingerprints of the factory workers in carbon dust on the porcelain insulators. Picture with Rolex for size, this thing is huge and gives off TONS of heat, and you can see on the old label (which fell off at some point in the last hundred years) it's rated at 32 candlepower - they hadn't even switched to watts yet! I love collecting Edisonia, and this along with my Standard Phonograph from 1906 are the crown jewels of my collection.

Second photo - I finagled some piece of crap using an old mercury rectifier tube from a stereo to step the voltage down from 110 to around 50 DC; I use this to check the filaments when I find them. Worst thing with these old lamps is to power it on in a modern fixture; carbon was strong, but if it hasn't been used in a century, a strong jolt of AC would blow it out right away.

[mailman]

Originally Posted by bdex75

Since it is a watch forum. 40's from what I understand. Beautifully clean Valjoux 22 column wheel movement. It is at the watch spa right. Ow getting a movement service. Cleaning up the case but keeping that dial and handset just like it is.
movement pic is from Ebay seller I bought it from.

Being in the life insurance business I have collected a lot of old policies from the early 1900's from the firm I work for. We go all the way back to 1875 so I am always on the hunt for older ones.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by MaxEight

Oh boy, antiques, my favorite things

I've got a copy of the US Constitution from 1852, and first edition prints of US Grant's memoirs from 1885. But old books are easy to find, especially around NYC, socked away in boxes or attics for years, untouched. So here's something you don't see every day, a wear item that should have been thrown away 120 years ago - an Edison light bulb.

This particular lamp was made around 1890-95. Carbon filament, still has the old gas evacuation nipple at the top of the glass, and if you look closely you can find fingerprints of the factory workers in carbon dust on the porcelain insulators. Picture with Rolex for size, this thing is huge and gives off TONS of heat, and you can see on the old label (which fell off at some point in the last hundred years) it's rated at 32 candlepower - they hadn't even switched to watts yet! I love collecting Edisonia, and this along with my Standard Phonograph from 1906 are the crown jewels of my collection.

Second photo - I finagled some piece of crap using an old mercury rectifier tube from a stereo to step the voltage down from 110 to around 50 DC; I use this to check the filaments when I find them. Worst thing with these old lamps is to power it on in a modern fixture; carbon was strong, but if it hasn't been used in a century, a strong jolt of AC would blow it out right away.

Cool stuff guys

[Gnomon]

A Galba Denarius graded Fine. I'm eventually going to acquire the other 3 denarii from the Year of the Four Emperors. A nice meditation upon hubris / nemesis / catharsis.

However my 12 year old niece has me beat by some millions of years: I gave her a coprolite for Christmas a few years back.

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by Gnomon

A Galba Denarius graded Fine. I'm eventually going to acquire the other 3 denarii from the Year of the Four Emperors. A nice meditation upon hubris / nemesis / catharsis.

However my 12 year old niece has me beat by some millions of years: I gave her a coprolite for Christmas a few years back.

Was that a man made dropping?

[highcotton]

I have a double fluted Clovis point that is maybe 12000 years old. It's in a case at my mothers house so I don't have a picture right now. Here are a few more pieces that I have found.

[Tj O'Reily]

An unknown coin from an unknown time. If anyone here has any idea...


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[TheVTCGuy]

Originally Posted by Letsgodiving

A bottle of Calder's Dentine I recovered from the wreck of the Eureka off the coast of Virginia in the 90's. The ship sank in 1888 so it's at least that old. When I found it the cork top was in perfect condition and still in place after over a 100 years at the bottom of the ocean but when I brought it back up it dried and shriveled up.

Mike! Awesome! And got me excited because I recovered an ink bottle (J.J. Butler CIN) from the wreck of the COL A.B. Williams, which went down in Lake Huron in 1862. I am out of the country but will post a pic as soon as I get home. And I completely understand what you mean. Our bottles sank with wooden ships and sat there in the wrecks until WE found them. I often wonder who was the last person to use my bottle before it went down. Having something old to me is a connection to the past, and it's great owning them. But when YOU are the one that recovered the item, that no one else has touched for hundreds, maybe thousands of years.. that just makes it extra special for me.

[Soly20]

Originally Posted by Tj O'Reily

An unknown coin from an unknown time. If anyone here has any idea...


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This coin seems to have some Arabic writing on it. Also there is a number "122" in the bottom part of the coin in the second picture.

[Rock]

Among some items that were passed down through generations of my male line were these two pocket watches. The Rotherhams is engraved with my Great Great Grandfather's name which dates it to around 1800. The Waltham is undated.

[Cryten]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

Was that a man made dropping?

It's possible the creature that pushed it out had just eaten a particularly slow Neolithic human, so does made of man count?

[zama]

Far from the oldest here with things dating back 1000's of year but this was my nan's hand blown glass lemon juicer which I still use today. I guess it is around 70 years old and while my photos are playing tricks her original made in Canada art deco towels from her glory box were still on display when my wife and i renovated our house back to art deco with everything original. She never used them and when I and my siblings inherited her collected items I gathered her 60+ year old towels from her pre marriage glory box.

[JohnAndrew]

My house, 1890

[GED]

[Wesley Crusher]

Awesome thread. I love seeing this old stuff.

[GradyPhilpott]

Originally Posted by Wesley Crusher

Awesome thread. I love seeing this old stuff.

Me, too!

Thanks to everyone who's posted!

[AF_Rob]

In watches, it's my Hamilton from 1908.