Other than land, what's the oldest physical object that you own?

[True Dough]

I have an 1893 Indian Head penny. It's apparently worth around $2. That's quite the appreciation, but it's not setting me up for retirement!

[Blues Heron]

1. I have a 250,000,000 year old fossil I found in West Virginia

[True Dough]

17. Give or take a year?

Otherwise, that's a semiquincentennial to the power of a whole lot!

[Orrex]

30. I call BS.

West Virginia didn’t even exist 250M years ago.

[Permanut]

86. Good one!

[FalloutShelter]

2. I have a fossilized sea shell

That has amber deposits on the inside.
Found it shelling in the winter at the Jersey Shore.
I’m told it is maybe thousands of years old.

[lark]

3. I have a quartersawn all oak 1890 sidetable from England I got at an auction 50 years ago for $100

Have no idea of it's worth, but the bottom came out years agom so now it's only got the 2 small top drawers for storage. Need to get it fixed. It's pretty and the 2nd piece of furniture I ever bought.

[Lithos]

4. Two items

Non-human made - Fossils from 200 million years ago
Human made - I have a few books printed around 1850. Don't recall the years off the top of my head.

[WVlaserguy]

5. Underwear

I’ve got some pretty tattered pieces!
😂

[True Dough]

18. As long

as it's still keeping things in place!

[ret5hd]

36. probably swingin' like a grandfather clock.

[efhmc]

43. Can't you ask for new ones for your bd or Valentine's day?

[Tbear]

6. I take care of Mom, she's 85.

Does that count?

[Scrivener7]

7. My great grandmother's wedding dress from 1895. It's black, covered with jet beads, and comes from

the Teller company, a precursor to Bonwit Teller.

[OldBaldy1701E]

8. I guess these are.

I found it while land surveying. At the time, we were surveying out the (now well established) neighborhood off of Lake Wheeler Rd., across from Dorothea Dix Hospital area. We were digging to find a property marker that we had set the previous summer. My two other associates had wandered off to try and find some other markers, so I was digging alone when I turned up this. I immediately grabbed it and put it with my other items that I had with me for the job. Later, I washed it off and saw that I had found a gorgeous hunk of Amethyst. I have had it ever since.

I also found this at the same site, about fifty yards from the amethyst.



I am going with the amethyst as the older of the two.

[GentryDixon]

46. My hubby worked at Dorthea Dix in the late 1960's

before being drafted into the Army. 💜

[OldBaldy1701E]

50. My nursing mother did part of her RN training at Dix.

This was in the late seventies.

So, she was driving up the road towards the hospital one day and she saw an elderly lady coming down the hill in her direction. The lady was going as fast as she could, while madly flapping her arms up and down.

She had 'flown the coop', you see.

Mother stopped, spoke with the lady and convinced her to return to the hospital. Mother was one amazing nurse.

[GentryDixon]

101. Lovely story. 💕

It sounds like your mom was certainly a remarkable nurse. 💜

[doc03]

9. An 1893 gold eagle coin. nt

[True Dough]

19. We should set up a date

for our coins. I'm sure they'd have a lot in common and much to discuss.

[doc03]

32. We had an 1886 gold eagle that had been passed

down in the family. I suspect my brother traded
it in for alcohol. I bought the 1893 a couple years ago for $1200.

[DFW]

63. I REALLY hope it was an eagle ($10 gold coin) and not a double eagle ($20 gold coin)

An 1886 eagle is worth the same as an 1893 eagle, which today is about $2400. But an 1886 double eagle is a very rare date, worth over $40,000 even in average condition.

[doc03]

66. No it was a $10 single eagle. Wow I looked that up they are

worth a fortune, $48K to $160k according to google.

[DFW]

68. Less if they're beat up, more if they are in new condition.

But, yeah, the $20 is a big deal. Only 1000 were made for circulation, plus 106 or so "proofs," or collector strikings. Also, the $20 wasn't struck at any of the branch mints (San Francisco, Carson City, New Orleans) that year, so for date collectors, the Philly mint issue is the only game in town. Google tends to list only retail results, so don't get too excited if you find one that has been knocked around in your grandma's antique furniture. Still, even a messed up one should fetch $25K minimum if it's readily identifiable as genuine.

[OLDMDDEM]

10. I have a clock from my grandparents. Bought by them in 1923.

[UniqueUserName]

11. Your question is clear. My pedantic answer is due to my brand of crazy.

The oldest human-made object that comes to mind is an 1881 Morgan dollar.

But I suppose the truly oldest "physical objects" are the elementary particle (protons, electrons, etc.) in my body. They date back to the earliest origins of the universe. They are indeed objects even if one can't literally hold them solo. I don't think that's what you were asking. Interestingly, the carbon in us dates back billions of years but not to the very early universe. Also, claiming that the elementary particles in me are the oldest things that I own is a bit disingenuous because it applies to everything that I or you own so it's not a very useful answer.

Even considering the Morgan dollar can be problematic. I am fairly certain that it is genuine. But when the numismatic value of coins was greater than melt value, many counterfeit Morgan dollars were made. Currently the melt value of a Morgan is hovering around $80 - $85 (Thank the orange menace for the chaos). I suspect many real dollars will be melted down.

I'm satisfied with the provenance of mine. It was in my husband's position when we partnered in 1997. Prior to that it was his grandfather's. I don't believe there was a lot of counterfeiting of these coins when it came into his possession. Hubby's mom was born in 1932. Her father was born significantly before that. I don't know when he obtained it. It's in remarkably good condition for a coin that was in circulation. Pretty amazing.

[Marthe48]

13. Love this answer!

[UniqueUserName]

14. Awww! Thanks! /nt

[DFW]

64. Hundreds of millions of Morgan dollars were minted

In 1918, the government melted down about 270 million Morgan dollars, probably eradicating the mintages of the 1895 Philadelphia coins and the 1873 San Francisco coins (not the Trade Dollars), as well as most of dates like 1886-O (New Orleans mint) and 1884-S (San Francisco mint). Much of the silver bullion was shipped to England who needed it for India.

But silver dollar production resumed in 1921, after being stopped after 1904. Fifty million pieces were minted in 1921 with a slightly modified Morgan design, so they aren’t rare at all. At the end of 1921, a new design was introduced called the “Peace” dollar. The first version had an elegant high relief design that the mint found hard to mass produce. It was modified in 1922 to a flatter design. Massive amounts were made in 1922 and 1923. The design was continued through 1928. Production was resumed again in 1934 and 1935, and then discontinued permanently.

To add some intrigue, it was decided to resume production in 1964, with many thousands being struck in one day at the Denver mint. That first day, new coins were given out to Denver mint employees, just as the decision to release them was rescinded that same day, due to the rising price of silver. The mint employees were told to turn in their examples for remelting. Rumors have persisted since then that a few survived, a few mint employees having turned in 1922 or 1923 coins instead, which were identical in size and silver content. Once melted, of course, there was no difference, and no silver missing. No one I know professes to having seen one of those 1964-D coins, but rumors circulate to this day that “someone, somewhere” etc. Any survivor would be liable to government confiscation, so even if there is one out there, no owner is likely to admit it publicly.

[Onthefly]

12. Fossils that are about 438 million years old

I have lots of fossils I have collected and marked locations. Many places, you need permits to keep a limited number of fossils.

The oldest fossils are marine invertebrates from the Late Ordovician Period.

[Marthe48]

15. Natural items rocks and fossils

According to Bishop James Ussher, they are no older than 4004 B.C.

I have a plate from the 1840s, a pastel portrait from about 1845, and an English silver spoon from 1816. I look at the portrait while I use the spoon to eat from the plate

[SonOfNebanaube]

51. That's BS

I have several pre Clovis points from Virginia.

[Marthe48]

57. The bishop was an historical figure

who actually said that.

All of us who know the age of planet earth and humans as toolmakers know the bishop was way off.

I read about his comment in a science magazine years ago. I think the author of the article mentioned how easy geology class and rock identification would be if everything dated from the bishop's date.

[Emile]

16. 1806 Large Cent

I have other large cents, but that's the oldest. I also have many other coins in the early 1800's. One of my favorites is an 1837 Silver Half Dime (no stars variety) I found metal detecting my front yard.

I have my grandfather's (accordion) squeeze box he brought over from the old country in 1911. Whenever I watch the movie Titanic, I think of my young grandparents, my grandpa playing his squeeze box and people dancing.

[True Dough]

20. My wife says

I have no sense — large, small or anything in between!

[LoisB]

21. "Poesie" by Leopoldo Minutilla - 1857

It is a book of poems in Italian

[Americanme]

22. I have an 1814 50 cent coin, capped bust, lettered edge.

My house is pretty old, built in the 1860's. Nobody could tell me the exact year, but the main house was moved in 1927, wings torn down. The original location is now an airport.

[lastlib]

23. A 5,000-year-old Osage Indian flint spearpoint.

My grandfather turned it up with a plow in 1926; I inherited it from my dad. It is in absolutely perfect condition. I have it framed above my mantel.

(The stone itself is, of course, millions of years older.......but it was chipped out thousands of years ago. A university archaeology professor with expertise in such artifacts judged its age by the style of the design. I've been offered $2,000 for it for its excellent condition--I turned it down, naturally.)

[2naSalit]

24. I have several fossils...

The oldest that have been "aged" are some 35 million years old, I know some are older but I don't know how old... I have some metamorphic rocks, from ancient volcanoes, that are much older than that.

[Torchlight]

25. A 1982 ZZ Top concert t-shirt

and the accompanying ticket stub (can't remember the t-shirt price, but the stub shows a $9.00 cost for my seat at the TCCC in Ft. Worth).

[SonOfNebanaube]

53. Rush ticket stub a shirt from 1979 same venue...

Also 1860 coffee grinder (still works)...

[Skittles]

61. I saw them that year!

would have been in Austin in April

[True Dough]

70. Does it look something like this?

[bif]

26. Ancient Greek & Roman coins

Plus a ton of fossils.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

27. My mom's decor stuff (vases, dishes, figurines)..dated from the 1940s

[unweird]

28. Coprolite

About 150 million years old. Dinosaur poop.

[Ocelot II]

29. Besides some rocks and fossils and my own ancient butt,

I have a Wedgwood jasperwear pitcher from the late 1700s and a portrait of my 3x great-grandmother painted in Norway in the 1850s-ish.

[fierywoman]

31. A violin made in Tartu (Estonia) in 1938. I always wondered how the liutiere had the

wherewithal to keep making violins given what was going on there at that time.

[CrispyQ]

33. Not the oldest, but maybe the most interesting, my mother's ration stamps from WWII.

She was just a a little girl during the war, so my grandmother signed for them. I'd seen them when I was a kid, & came across them again when she died. Holding them, I realized we'll never have ration stamps again. If you have the money to buy it, you'll get it. If you don't, too bad for you. And if you have the money to buy all of, & no one else gets any, we let that happen too sometimes.

My religious relatives said the US started going downhill when we turned away from God, & one of them got angry when I said, "Nothing says who your god is like putting IN GOD WE TRUST on your currency, & I think that happened in the fifties." There are two kinds of trumpers in my family, the zealots & the ones who think they're still conservatives.

[Lovie777]

34. Over a 100 year old pink Catholic Rosary.....

my grandmother was a Catholic but in later life she became a Protestant.

[cachukis]

35. Some fossils, but as an antique dealer have had

some wonders. Most are now gone as we have downsized.
One of my remaining treasures is an old iron hammer that matched up to one in a book I had of Jamestown artifacts. Took it to Williamsburg where they authenticated it as 400 years old and likely from an east coast settlement originally from England. Bought it from a dealer who did not have provenance, but took a chance.
Have an early piece of Wedgwood creamware from circa 1775 that was broken and I bought it for the mend. Cracks are perfectly aligned and staples inserted on the back. They stopped making repairs like that at end of 19th C.
Have an Etruscan clay oil lamp, that I just remembered.
Still some treasures in our smaller space.

[gopiscrap]

37. A German Lutheran Hymnal

from 1803

[malthaussen]

38. Probably a few remaining pieces of my parents's wedding silver.

75 years old or thereabouts. Used to own a book printed in 1516, but that went in one of my moves.

-- Mal

[Talitha]

39. A meteorite.

No idea how old it could be. Same goes for my rock collection.

[Trueblue Texan]

40. an engraved silver baby mug, from 1925nt

[MaryMagdaline]

41. I have my mother's doll from the 1920s

Plus a few china pieces from my great-grandmother -early 1900s.

[Auggie]

42. Family portraits from the 1890s or so

Great grandparents. Don't know what to do with them. No relatives in which to bequeath. They'll probably end up in land fill.

[Boomerproud]

58. Donate them to a genealogical society.

They love that kind of thing.

[efhmc]

44. What an interesting topic and a whole bunch of amazing responses.

[True Dough]

71. It's like

the Antiques Roadshow in here!

[Ptah]

45. An old clothes iron from 1870, fabricated by my great grandfather

Using a 1870 iron to press facemasks in 2021

[Imalittleteapot]

47. 1840

cross stitched sampler

[BluesRunTheGame]

48. Maybe a song...

I have, on an album by June Tabor, her rendition of the song “Barbara Allen”. That might be the oldest thing in my house. Not the album and not the recording. The song itself.

It was first mentioned on Jan 2, 1666. It’s probably at least 100 years older than that.

It’s not only very old, it’s also one of the greatest songs to be written in the English language.

[Iggo]

49. Just the star stuff that I'm made of. And I'm not sure I own that, either.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

52. My GGGM's iron

I think her family was from Germany in the Anhalt-Zerbst area (relatives swear were related to Catherine the Great, who I'm sure never lifted such a monster. 🤪 ).

It weighs a shit ton (cast iron) and has ash inside yet, so well used. I just can't fathom women of that era dealing with laundry day--bedding, shirts, dresses for a whole family.

Then again, my Gran was still pushing a mower around and working inn her big garden at 96, so maybe this is one of the reasons we're such tough bitches. 😏

[True Dough]

72. Now that's

one cool handle!

It looks like it would give you a hernia too!

[buzzycrumbhunger]

75. Seriously!

I found one like it on eBay once, listed for $1750! I recall it was named “The Monster,” which fits. Just set it on the scale and it’s almost 10 pounds!

[True Dough]

76. It removes wrinkles

by virtue of its weight!

[cksmithy]

98. A a kid, we had a plane cast iron that we used ti play house

in the 1950's. I thank my poor mother actually used it to iron. We had a wood burning heating stove she could of sat it on to get hot. No idea what happened to it. That is beautiful iron.

[Bayard]

54. I have an Indigenous stone hammer head

Gawd knows how old it is. I was kicking along through a newly plowed field when I was in junior high school, and stumbled across it. This was in southern Indiana, so I'm guessing Miami or Shawnee.

I also have my Grandfather's WWI Army blanket. Its wool, and really heavy. My Mom said my Grandmother tried to use it inside a quilt, but it was just too hot. My Granddad was in the trenches in Germany. I also have his sepia toned Army photo.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

55. My dad's goggles and an aviation tool from WW2.

Also, all the letters he wrote home.

[surrealAmerican]

56. I have a geode...

...not quite sure how old it is.

[LogDog75]

59. 1881-O Morgan Brilliant Uncirculated Silver Dollar

Beautiful design both front and back.

[hunter]

60. Oldest fossils are some early Cambrian trilobites and other life from that time.

I've got some family stuff from the early 1800's but I haven't sorted through it yet. My mom and dad regarded all this old stuff as something of a burden and now that I've got it I understand.

My dad's father edited out most of the scandalous stuff in his family which is sad because it might have been the most interesting stuff.

I do have some scandalous stuff from my mom's family. I thought that some of the stories my mom told must have been exaggerations but it turns out they were not.

[applegrove]

62. I have a woman's purse from the 1800s I think. I have a

Last edited Wed Feb 4, 2026, 03:07 AM - Edit history (1)

necklass from around then too. Neither of them are of value to anyone but me. They belonged to my grandmother who was born in 1898. She died in 2002 so she lived in 3 different centuries.

[True Dough]

74. I have no idea of the statistics

but if I had to guess, I would suspect that far less than 1% of the people who have ever lived on this planet of ours had lives that spanned 3 centuries.

[applegrove]

79. Yes. She fought to make it to 100. Then being blind

and deaf but otherwise with it she fought to die. She refused food. She died at 103. She was my hero growing up. So warm. She told stories in the old oral tradition. She worked her *** off her whole life ( she raised 5 younger sisters of which she was the oldest, ran a farm, was a nurse, ran a nursing home, was an outport nurse, country doctor's wife, live in caregiver, etc..) and retired at 82. But yeah. I think my older brother informed her she would soon have been alive in three different centuries when she was 100.

I once asked her in the 1980s what she thought of communism. She said she was 19 when communism started and she wasn't afraid of them. But she was afraid of the AMERICANS!!!! Typical Nova Scotia. LOL!

[DFW]

65. Some fossil trilobites from Morocco and 200 million year old petrified logs from Indonesia and Zimbabwe

As far as coins go, I have a silver stater from the ancient Greek colony of Syracuse in Sicily, another from the colony at Tarent, with the image of a boy riding a dolphin, and a couple of tetradrachms of Athens with the goddess Athena on the obverse and the Athenian owl on the reverse, all dating from around 450 BC.

[3catwoman3]

67. I have my maternal grandmother's nursing school diploma from 1918.

It's in surprisingly good condition. I found it in a closet in my mom's house back in 2018-1919, just semi-rolled up without any protective covering. I never even knew we'd had this. It's huge, about 12x18. I put it in an antique-looking silver frame.

I consider it a real treasure. My mother also went to nursing school, as did I. I have all 3 of our nursing school pins, which I have mounted on a piece of lace that came from the sleeve of my paternal grandmother's wedding dress, in a small shadow box frame. My paternal grandmother was not a nurse, but I thought using the piece of lace was a good way to include her in the female family history.

[True Dough]

73. That's quite the generational hand-me-down

A career in nursing. Bless you all!

[Nittersing]

69. I have three or four pieces of furniture that are from the 1800s

My mom's family owned textile mills in Stottville, New York that pretty much shut down around 1900.

[Bristlecone]

77. I have a late 1880s/1890s baseball glove

I bought it when I was a young kid at a garage sale for a quarter. I don’t think it’s really worth much, but it’s in great condition and I still smile when I look at it or put it on.

[Sneederbunk]

78. An unidentifiable something in the fridge.

[True Dough]

82. Does it

move on its own?

[greatauntoftriplets]

80. Small pewter plates that the Culpeper, VA, antique shop swore are from the 1700s.

They look that old. If not that, my maternal grandmother's engagement ring from about 1890. It's 18-carat gold with round turquoises and seed pearls. I also have her wedding ring.

[Freddie]

81. A grandfather clock

I inherited. It’s been in the family since around 1890. Looks great but doesn’t work, needs the weights balanced.
My engagement ring was DH’s grandmother’s circa 1930.

[intelpug]

83. oldest owned item

Other than possibly some arrowheads a coin from first century BC India and a Byzantian Empire coin with Jesus on one side and the Virgin Mary on the other

[TBF]

84. Hymnals and old bibles -

from my husband's father that were originally from his home in KY. I have a few older cookbooks, my mom's stamp collection, and great grandmother's jewelry. The religious books would be the oldest.

[SalamanderSleeps]

85. me?

I just want to share myself with my children until I'm gone.

[Permanut]

87. My Social Security card, which I got just before dirt was invented.

[True Dough]

90. I must know,

how were vegetables grown pre-dirt? Please fill me in!

[Permanut]

92. I thought vegetables were invented later.

[True Dough]

93. Maybe so.

I must have been thinking about legumes and nuts — Permanut, even.

[Permanut]

95. OMg I'm a legume.

Actually that's kinda cool.

[yellowdogintexas]

88. Not counting Mr YD's very large rock collection

the oldest thing in our house is a cherry table made by my great great grandfather (or possibly one of his brothers) using wood from trees on the farm in Kentucky. I think it dates to 1843. I also have a sterling silver water pitcher (it's huge) which is lined with porcelain to keep water cool. It also makes a great ice bucket for a bottle of bubbly. There are two goblets with it. It was a wedding present to my great to my great great grandparents in 1857. My great great grandfather was one of President John Tyler's many children.

[yaesu]

89. An 1873 Indian Head penny I found in an old MI parks while metal detecting back around 1980. nt

[Hey Joe]

91. An uncirculated 1883 Carson City

Morgan dollar that was given to me forty years ago. It’s in a presentation box that was issued in the Nixon administration.

[Turbineguy]

94. My Father's

Late 18th century violin.

[LudwigPastorius]

96. I have an operatic score in book form that belonged to my great-great grandfather.

He was from Charleston, but studied composition at Heidelberg University.

It is signed and dated "1857".

[quaint]

97. Blakeman & Henderson Limoges-France round powder box, circa 1890.

Last edited Fri Feb 6, 2026, 11:27 AM - Edit history (2)

Made me look, information was close, not quite right, still looking for one like it.
No idea if it has any value, what with the glued lid.
Probably not the oldest, but my favorite item passed down to me.

[cksmithy]

99. My MIL's singer sewing machine, one of the first electric sewing machines.

There are all sorts of attachments that make button holes, pleats, etc. (think Rube Goldberg machinery), which I have actually used, MIL kept the manual. It is in a beautiful piece of furniture with the top unfolding, the sewing machine rising. It's great. Probably early 1930.

I also have fossils that could range in age from 66 to 150 millions years of age that I bought as teaching props for my elementary school students. My husband has model T tools, we have a oil base lamp, that was used by his family and turned into an electric lamp. A steel penny, and lot of things my FIL brought back WWII. He was a Seabee in the Pacific, we have pictures, we are not sure how he came home with plates from Germany, Morocco, carved African wooden animals and other things. Of course since he was born in 1911, we can't ask him any questions.

[Aristus]

100. A first edition of popular farm ballads, with lyrics and sheet music, dating from 1882.

It was a gift from a friend. It sits on a shelf with all of my other first editions.

[Wicked Blue]

102. Revereware saucepan given to me as a christening present

It's lasted nearly 74 years and still cooking!

[Mad_Dem_X]

103. Probably a John Lennon t-shirt bought in Cleveland

at the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame...September 10, 2001.