In Britain, Antique can mean Ancient
A few days ago, I wandered into an antique store on the High Street in Oxford, expecting to see hundred-year-old furniture and coins from when the Queen was young. What I actually found floored me.
For just over £30, I could have bought a six-sided die dating from the Romans. Apparently these are not all that uncommon as the Romans were big gamblers. But only £30 for something that could have cost Tiberius his salt!?
Or, for about the same price, I could have picked up a silver penny dating to the reign of Athelred II of Northumbria c. 850, over two hundred years before the conquest. These are very uncommon. Although the Saxon kings loved to mint coins depicting themselves, they never has the minting capabilities of either the Romans before them or the Normans after them. This was a coin from before England was even unified into one kingdom!
If I was feeling very flush, I could have laid down £200 and walked out wearing a Roman ring dating from 400AD, a ring that someone might have been wearing during the campaigns of Arthur. Okay, it wasn't exactly shinny anymore, and the little carving on the face was no great piece of art, but, oh the history.
Mixed in with these items were little crosses dating from the crusades, little pots and statuettes from Ancient Egypt, and jade jewelry from the early years of China.
Now, none of these items would I exactly call cheap, but previously I had only ever seen them in museums. I had no idea you could walk into a shop on High Street and buy them.
