What is the oldest thing you have in your house?

[DennisN]

A sidenote to my previous post: While I was looking through my "archives" I found some science memorabilia from the 60s and 70s, I thought I might share another two photos I just took, since some thread readers may be interested in both science and history:

• First Man On The Moon/Moon Landing, First Day Cover (USA, 1969) - http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7620/16879655709_59fea3138f_b.jpg
  
• A couple of Nobel Prize First Day Covers (Sweden, 60s - 70s) - http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7597/16443431334_186be1d428_b.jpg

Just a sidenote though. I hope to see more photos of various old things from more members in this thread...

 

[Bandersnatch]

Spoiler

That is the oldest thing. Not just in my house, it is THE oldest thing. It was given to me just after I was born, and as far as I know the world hadn't existed before.

 

[Doug Huffman]

A fossil commonly found on my Niagara Escarpment property.

 

[Pythagorean]

Probably rocks my daughter brings in. Then... me I guess @ 34 years

 

[lisab]

Spoiler

View attachment 81625

That is the oldest thing. Not just in my house, it is THE oldest thing. It was given to me just after I was born, and as far as I know the world hadn't existed before.

That's adorable!

 

[PWiz]

I get a few million year old photons in my house every other night. But they don't stay :(

 

[AdityaDev]

My grandfather...
I was joking.
I have a cupboard which is more than 150 years old.

 

[BobG]

Probably rocks my daughter brings in. Then... me I guess @ 34 years

Rocks definitely aren't the oldest thing in my house.

I have three rocks that are 13 1/2 years old. I plucked them from a hole on Mt Etna shortly after its eruption. They were still very warm, even though solid.

I have a slide rule that's around 70 years old.

(We were hoping to take the chair lift to the peak. We didn't speak much Italian, but were eventually able to get the idea that the chair lift was closed that day. We exited the opposite side of the building we entered and saw the lift supports laying on the ground, having been toppled by the flowing lava. We were then able to deduce that the lift would probably be closed tomorrow, as well.)

 

[CWatters]

I have a rock from Vesuvius somewhere.

My father was there with the RAF soon after the eruption in 1944. We all climbed up in the late 1960's when I was about 8 years old. I went back to the area with my kids in 2003. I believe it's overdue for another eruption.

 

[zoobyshoe]

ahhh found them :)

View attachment 81538

Not to hijack the thread, but, hijacking the thread here, what does an "Ancient Roman Starter Pack" cost, and, that price being the case, are Roman coins worth more, less, or about the same as they were when originally minted?

 

[davenn]

gosh ... .from memory that pack of 11 coins cost me somewhere around AU$10 - 20 ... it wasn't a huge price to pay for some really old coins :)Dave

 

[Lisa!]

Dust on my desk

I have a 3 cent Victoria coin from 1889, but I can't find any information about it.

I can help you but I need to keep them for a while!

 

[zoobyshoe]

gosh ... .from memory that pack of 11 coins cost me somewhere around AU$10 - 20 ... it wasn't a huge price to pay for some really old coins :)Dave

So, I wonder what the modern buying power is compared to the ancient. When I saw that "Starter Pack," it occurred to me that there must be so many Roman coins still in existence that they are not particularly valuable at all. Given the 11 coins, the bulk of what you paid was undoubtedly for the silver one. But what you're really paying for is for someone to grade them, package them up, label them, advertise them, and ship them.

 

[DennisN]

gosh ... .from memory that pack of 11 coins cost me somewhere around AU$10 - 20 ... it wasn't a huge price to pay for some really old coins :)
Dave

Thanks to this post, I'm seriously thinking of getting such a pack, I really like such kind of things (by the way, I just googled for "Roman coins starter pack", and this thread came up as #4 on the list ).

 

[Cruz Martinez]

The oldest things in my house are this coin from 1943 and this watch whose date is unknown to me, but it surely is older than anything else around here (if anyone knows how to date a pocket watch let me know :D).

 

[thankz]

I keep it at my mothers house, got it when I was 2.

 

[Mark44]

I have a can of garbanzo beans in my pantry that expired in 1963 (have no idea when it was bought).

Funny thing is I've always wondered why I always seem to have a can of garbanzo beans in every house I've lived in when I don't even know what they're used for. All this time, it must have been the same can.

Garbanzo is just Spanish for chickpeas. They can be used in soups, stews, or salads. You can also make hummus from them.

BobG's garbanzo beans are so old, it would probably be better to make humus out of them.

 

[Mark44]

ahhh found them :)

View attachment 81538
According to the description in the paper for davenn's Roman coins, one of them is a silver denarius. Of interest, at least to me, is that if you buy nails at the hardware store, they will have sizes like 12 penny and 16 penny, but written as 12d and 16d. The 'd' in the size has its roots in the Roman coin, denarius. In England before about 1488, the penny size was the price, in pennies, of 100 nails of that size (http://sizes.com/units/penny.htm). Oddly enough, the "100" here was actually a so-called "long hundred" which was actually 120, at least according to this site: http://sizes.com/units/hundred.htm.

When I was in Yugoslavia in 1974, the basic unit of currency was the dinar. You can guess where that word came from. It's still the currency in Serbia and Macedonia (denar), but the other former provinces have different currencies, now.

 

[davenn]

According to the description in the paper for davenn's Roman coins, one of them is a silver denarius. Of interest, at least to me, is that if you buy nails at the hardware store, they will have sizes like 12 penny and 16 penny, but written as 12d and 16d. The 'd' in the size has its roots in the Roman coin, denarius.

Cool
love hearing about these oddball things ... thanks MarkDave