Surveying the ol’ rock collection, the oldest thing I’ve got there is a rock-turned-doorstop with big ripple marks that’s about 1.4 billion years old. But then I realized that I (and a lot of other people) have a way older rock in my house. The so-called granite countertops in my house are some sort of swirly metamporphic thing that was likely quarried in some ancient piece of craton somewhere, possibly putting the age into the several billions.
I suppose that runs afoul of the “no rocks” and “no house fixtures” rules, although I think I do have a “granite” coaster or two laying around.
Ugh. Thanks for reminding me. We have an oil lamp in the basement that was my wife’s great grandmother’s, or great great, or great great great, you get the idea. It’s packed up in a box and stashed where it has never seen light of day. It’s never been out of the box, or moved from where it gets set if we move. I’m 100% sure that if I threw the friggin’ thing out and didn’t tell her she would never realize it, but I can’t bring myself to do it because boobs.
We are not clutter people. We don’t do knick-nacks (sp?). There’s a standing rule in the house where things we own that don’t get touched for a year are shown the door…but not this lamp. This lamp in a box, covered with dust, in the darkest corner of the basement…that no one remembers even exists until I find it while cleaning and get pissed off about it all over again. My life is one of hardship and pain.
A few old Roman coins (you’d be surprised at how cheap ancient Roman and Greek coins can be, especially if worn and bought back in the 80s). A few a couple thousand years old, bought when I was a more serious numismatist. I know some of the “newer” coins under 1000 years old (I think?) were really common, as friends just gave worn versions to me as a novelty. “Hey, here’s payment for that Coke you bought me.”
A couple of amphorae… not sure if Greek or Roman. An ex shed some of her excess onto me, and I kept them post-break-up. A few hundred years old? A millennia or more? Dunno. Guessing they’re Roman due to her academic focus, but I have no clue. They’re pretty, they have special stands and sit around, and most everyone assumes they’re vases.
Lots of coins between 1600 and 1900… not a numismatist anymore, but these are really cool to keep having.
Of more useful tech… gave away a Singer treadle machine a while back. I’ve got packed away a couple of old mechanical television pieces, and an unused cylinder player in a back bedroom. So ~100 years?
I’ve got small things from the 1700s- pens, coins, and hairpins. 1800s much more- small jewelry, coins, pictures, linens, luggage, a treadle sewing machine from the 1880s. My family were mostly early peasant emigrants from England, but wore things out so there isn’t much of what they did have left until the late 19th and early 20th century. I’ve a Chippendale chair, but you can’t sit in it. Old bottles both medicine and liquor, and crocks from the old boarding houses in Lake Placid. 1939 Farmall M wide front, used every year to pull the hayrake. Various late 19th/early 20th century firearms from Civil war on. We’ve some serious thieves around here and between the dog and the Model 12s we’re covered.
The oddest thing is a piece of my paternal grandfather’s jaw. He had a near fatal fall from a light pole (he helped electrify Manhattan) and this section had two gold teeth in it. I have pictures of him with a straight face but have no memories of him without the crooked jaw and sunken cheek on one side. Have his WW1 Navy medals and my maternal grandfather’s WW1 Army sharpshooter’s buttons. (No surprise there- he was a good hunter from way back ;)).
If there was a fire I’d save as much of the furniture my husband made as I could. It’s only 10-20 years old. Some of it was featured in an Arts and Crafts Magazine one year- it’s pretty heavy though.