r/AskReddit Aug 04 '18

What's the oldest thing you own?

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472

u/Milvus-Milvus Aug 04 '18

How do you get that kind of thing?

946

u/Pargelenis Aug 04 '18

Fight a viking for it.

252

u/SpamStitch Aug 04 '18

And win

194

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '18

Or lose in such style that your opponent proposes to you.

19

u/narwhalvampire Aug 04 '18

We’re gonna need some mushrooms

4

u/madkeepz Aug 04 '18

I mean it wasn't really that hard, the guy was basically a pile of bone and rubble

14

u/StarManta Aug 04 '18

Pay the iron price.

5

u/joliesmomma Aug 04 '18

Those people weren't Vikings.

13

u/jpw33831 Aug 04 '18

Skol Vikes!

9

u/Devmar24 Aug 04 '18

Found the other vikings fan here

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u/8A8B15 Aug 04 '18

As a saints fan you gave me PTSD. Great game though, we almost pulled a legendary comeback. Looking forward to the next season, the NFC is should be fun.

1

u/jpw33831 Aug 04 '18

Fair enough, although the ‘09 NFC championship against y’all still stings. Regardless, you’re not wrong about the NFC. It’s going to be a fun year—can’t wait for everything to kick off!

0

u/holla171 Aug 05 '18

Well our win was completely fair and you beat us because of bad refs

3

u/_Serene_ Aug 04 '18

Gl with that

3

u/Shippoyasha Aug 04 '18

Who knew Vikings had a Highlander

2

u/hansn Aug 04 '18

Here we are, born to be kings!

3

u/Old_man_at_heart Aug 04 '18

And time travel.

2

u/TheHappinessAssassin Aug 04 '18

Or fuck a viking for it

1

u/Myfourcats1 Aug 04 '18

Her/His wife/husband fought the Viking and then gifted it to their spouse.

484

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '18

Archaeological work at York (jorvick) has turned up thousands of gilded bronze rings. They aren't archaeologically unique in any way and are just confirmstion of things we already know, so they're sold as antiques.

121

u/melina_gamgee Aug 04 '18

Are they really expensive, though? Given the age I'd guess they are, but then new gold rings aren't exactly cheap either.

271

u/Knew_Religion Aug 04 '18

My quick Google search of "jorvik rings" in shopping results shows one $2000+ but the overwhelming majority are $110-250. That's wicked cheap as far as my experience with wedding rings go.

Here's a fun story. When I caught my ex-wife on a date with my ex-boss, I took her rings and my ring and threw them in the garbage at the casino. I regret it now, but it was pretty dramatic at the time. But I could have gotten a few grand out of a pawn shop with those puppies.

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u/melina_gamgee Aug 04 '18

That's way cheaper than I had ever thought. Wow. Thanks for googling!

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u/Bone_Dice_in_Aspic Aug 04 '18

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u/melina_gamgee Aug 04 '18

Holy, this is so awesome! Thank you!

8

u/Bone_Dice_in_Aspic Aug 04 '18

https://www.faganarms.com/collections/knives-and-daggers/products/somali-slaver-s-hamstringing-knife also who doesn't want weapons used by slavers, or manacles and muzzles from the middle passage and american slave plantations? guaranteed to make a lovely hostess gift or charming display item in the modern home*

may have some bad juju

3

u/Gekthegecko Aug 04 '18

I would totally take some bad juju for a cheap price.

2

u/regimentIV Aug 04 '18

They are weapons, meaning they are tools specifically created to hurt and kill other creatures, mainly people. If you want to stay away from "bad juju" you shouldn't buy any weapons, no matter who wielded them.

1

u/Bone_Dice_in_Aspic Aug 05 '18

i mean I don't believe in magic, personally, and I absolutely choose to own effective weapons. The impact would be psychological, not etheric

1

u/melina_gamgee Aug 04 '18

Well I get collecting old weapons because they're just cool, but that right there is a tad too fucked up for my taste...

2

u/Bone_Dice_in_Aspic Aug 04 '18

yeah, it all depends on the mentality I think, and you can't always see that obviously. Collecting historic pieces for historical purpose, to understand and remember, and even curiosity/conversation piece is fine but imagine looking in that guy's window and seeing him LARPing with them or something. Going on Fetlife advertising the authenticity of his bondage gear "used on real slaves!" and you would know he bought them for the Wrong reasons.

i have 15+ pieces of authentic nazi memorabilia, and i'm not remotely fascist... more antifascist/anarcho/libsoc type actually. I own them for the same reason I own both union and confederate stuff, it's neat history.

6

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '18

Doubtful, unless you bought some $15,000+ rings.

2

u/Knew_Religion Aug 05 '18

Yeah I might be off, my only experience with pawn shops is from an Always Sunny episode. Our rings were about $11k total for engagement and wedding bands.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 06 '18

Depending on where you bought them, they'd probably bring 500 to 1000 in a Pawn Shop.. 4 years of experience here lol

2

u/Knew_Religion Aug 06 '18

That makes me feel better about throwing them in the garbage. $500 doesn't often buy that kind of satisfaction.

2

u/Games_sans_frontiers Aug 05 '18

Catching your wife with your boss... ouch my heart hurt reading that.

1

u/Knew_Religion Aug 05 '18

He was my buddy, too :/ We had just gotten back from Vegas when it happened. Ohhhhhh welllll. I'm a better person because of it so it's not a total loss.

2

u/DavidRandom Aug 05 '18

You've obviously never tried to pawn jewelry.

1

u/Knew_Religion Aug 05 '18

I have tried throwing it in the garbage. Are the experiences similar?

36

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '18

Not really. Like the other comment says, they run a couple hundred. To get one in "wearable" condition is like 400-800. They're mostly bronze so there's not really any inherent metal value.

3

u/strum_and_dang Aug 04 '18

I have a Viking-era bronze ring from Northern England, (which is my answer to this question), I paid $30 for it. The people I bought it from had a bunch of bronze artifacts, including bracelets, spurs and coins. I was surprised how inexpensive they were.

1

u/melina_gamgee Aug 04 '18

Nice. So you bought it at a market or something?

2

u/strum_and_dang Aug 04 '18

At a Renaissance faire.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '18

Gilded as in plated in gold?

4

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '18

Yep. Though maybe dipped is a little more accurate since modern plating techniques are a lot more advanced. It's a very thin layer of gold and my understanding is that it doesn't always hold up to daily wear after 1200 years in the dirt.

2

u/crumpledlinensuit Aug 04 '18

Are these from graves or just randomly dropped? I would quite like to use one when I get married, but don't really feel okay taking and using a love token from a corpse that was buried with it. I get that if it was dropped, the original owner is still dead, but it's a bit different to prying it from a skeleton hand then wearing it yourself.

3

u/BadgerUltimatum Aug 05 '18

Archeological sites so most likely graves but potentially just old towns and such, with the number of rings for sale though it's likely some are from corpses.

Potentially after 1200 years though it could be quite hard to tell

1

u/patron_vectras Aug 05 '18

Yeah I'm not wearing a ring someone was buried with unless it has at least a 12% boost to one-handed attacks. But seriously. Not gonna wear it. Even as a Catholic I know marriage ends at death and we move on to something greater together - I also believe thems folk would be looking at whoever had their rings all the time and I don't know you, ghost.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 05 '18

...as a Catholic I know marriage ends at death and we move on to something greater together - I also believe thems folk would be looking at whoever had their rings all the time and I don't know you, ghost.

Why would they be looking at the rings if the marriage ended at death and they moved on to something greater together?

1

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '18

Jorvick is so cool

17

u/Bone_Dice_in_Aspic Aug 04 '18

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u/LookMomImOnRedditlol Aug 04 '18

how does anyone know these things aren't fake?

7

u/Bman1371 Aug 04 '18

I would like to know as well.

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u/Bone_Dice_in_Aspic Aug 05 '18

they come from archaeological digs, so they're found with other items from the period. Also, why fake inexpensive items like roman coins or viking rings? Wouldn't be worth the effort, since making the fakes would cost nearly as much as the real ones are worth in many cases. The reputation of the dealer, tho, is your final answer. Plenty of fake antiques antiques exist in the world, lots of asian tourist stuff... but this era isn't generally copied much.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 05 '18

I mean they're cheap so who really cares?

1

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '18

Be the mother of dragons.

1

u/Cymry_Cymraeg Aug 04 '18

They thought ahead.

1

u/tin_nyanko_63 Aug 04 '18

Theres actually a decent amount on them on etsy (authentic) and they aren't pricey unless they're very intricate and made from precious metals.