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Chris Higgins
Send Us Your Photos: The Oldest Thing You Own
by Chris Higgins - January 15, 2008 - 9:00 AM

Old watchWe’re working on a new feature for mentalfloss.com involving reader-submitted photos. To get things rolling, we’re putting out a call for photos of the oldest thing you own. 142 readers have already discussed this in text (for the comments, see What’s the Oldest Thing You Own and the greatest hits re-post), but now we’re looking for photos.

To submit your photos for this project, drop them in an email to flossypics@gmail.com, include your name (first name or full name — your choice), your location, and a brief description. Then stay tuned for the gallery!

And just to give this post some actual content, read up on the oldest thing on Earth:

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A tiny speck of zircon crystal that is barely visible to the eye is believed to be the oldest known piece of Earth at about 4.4 billion years old. For the first time ever, the public will have a chance to see the particle Saturday at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where researchers in 2001 made the breakthrough discovery that the early Earth was much cooler than previously believed based on analysis of the crystal. Read more…

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Comments (12)

  1. Wow, I got to thinking about what old thing I owned and I thought I had a winner with a fossilized shark tooth from…well a long time ago, I’m not sure. Then I read about the particle and I am awed.

    posted by Wreckless on 1-15-2008 at 1:38 pm

  2. I’ve got a coin from Roman Times. It even says “24 B.C.” on it!

    posted by Kevin Nelson on 1-15-2008 at 2:36 pm

  3. My family has some ancient Greek pottery from around 300BC- it’s gorgeous and in great condition

    posted by Sophia on 1-15-2008 at 3:15 pm

  4. Kevin — ummm… I don’t even know how to start this… How would they KNOW it was BC in 24 BC?? I’m thinking that that coin is … not authentic.

    posted by Larriann on 1-15-2008 at 10:57 pm

  5. There’s my mom. She’s really, really,really old but technically I don’t own her.

    (I’m going to find out if she reads this.)

    posted by Tdave on 1-16-2008 at 2:52 am

  6. Larriann – ouch! But it sounds like you’re right.

    I have some trilobyte fossils in a rock I found in a creek bed once.

    posted by Lisa on 1-16-2008 at 6:39 am

  7. I have what is purported to be dinosaur poop.

    posted by Lew on 1-16-2008 at 1:09 pm

  8. I’ve got a first edition copy of Huck Finn, and I’d take that over dinosaur crap any day. The pottery sounds cool though.

    posted by bobthewalrus on 1-16-2008 at 5:10 pm

  9. I guess the oldest thing I have is a pretty god size fossil of a fish that is dated to be 65 million years old or more… guess thats pretty old wouldn’t you say?

    posted by Colin on 1-17-2008 at 2:39 pm

  10. Okay, this isn’t very old, and it’s my dad’s, but I have a dagger that my grandfather took off of the body of a Nazi. It has the swastika on the handle.

    posted by Cait on 1-17-2008 at 3:52 pm

  11. I have always treasured my Petosky stone for this very reason…it is the oldest thing I own. The stone used to be coral back in the day when there was an ocean in what is now Michigan. The ocean is no longer in Michigan and neither am I. Maybe I should throw the stone out in the yard to confuse future archaeologists.

    posted by Kate on 1-17-2008 at 8:57 pm

  12. The oldest man-made thing I own is a book of poems by Tennyson, printed in 1888. I got it for $2.50 at a used bookstore.

    posted by Mel on 1-18-2008 at 1:52 pm

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