A set of ancient artifacts were discovered on sale for just $22 at a Canadian thrift store.
The set of precious rings and medallions were spotted by a shopper at Thrifty Boutique, a charity thrift store in Chilliwack, around 60 miles from Vancouver.
The customer had a background in archeology and alerted the the store’s volunteers who brought in experts from Simon Fraser University.
Eleven rings and two medallions were handed over which are believed to date back to medieval or Roman times.
The exact age and value of the artifacts is still under study, but it is suspected they are worth well above the $30 CAD OR $21.50 USD they were listed for.
‘This is an incredibly exciting donation and an amazing opportunity for students here at SFU,’ Sabrina Higgins, an associate professor in global humanities and archeology, said.
The jewelry has been placed in the care of SFU’s Museum of Archeology and Ethnology and is set to become apart of the student’s curriculum.
SFU students will be offered a course dedicated to the analysis of the jewelry set’s designs and materials to determine the items origins.
A set of ancient artifacts were discovered on sale for just $22 at a Canadian thrift store
Simon Fraser University were donated the eleven rings and two medallions discovered in the store, which are believed to date back to medieval or Roman times
Thrifty Boutique, a thrift store in Chilliwack, around 60 miles from Vancouver, unknowingly listed the items for sale for around $21.50 in US dollars
‘It will take at least a semester – if not longer – to piece together the origins of these artifacts. We’re fortunate to have access to cutting-edge research technologies within our department to properly study these objects, so it promises to be a rewarding journey for students,’ Higgins added.
Higgins, who specializes in Rome and late antique archeology, was the first to examine the set and said: ‘I think they most likely originate from somewhere within the boundaries of what was once the Western Roman Empire.
‘The shapes, designs and construction make me think that these are medieval, as the Romans typically used slightly different materials and techniques.’
The university noted its museum is typically reluctant to accept items that are not properly documented, ‘as there is the risk that such items may have been illegally looted’.
However, museum director Barbara Hilden said: ‘The fact that these items continue to exist is quite extraordinary.
‘If they are hundreds or thousands of years old, then at any point along the way they could have been lost, broken or discarded. Yet they’ve been kept, preserved, and now they’re entering a new chapter.’
‘What we do in museums is tell stories about people and objects. We’re really looking forward to telling the stories behind these belongings once we know more about them’ she added.
Assistant Professor Cara Tremain the Department of Archeology noted that the ethics of accepting to the donation and the items origins will be central to the course set to being in the fall of 2026.
Pictured: One of the two medallions donated to the university from the ancient jewelry set
Sabrina Higgins (pictured), an associate professor in global humanities and archeology, said: ‘This is an incredibly exciting donation and an amazing opportunity for students here at SFU’
Pictured: One of the eleven rings discovered in the jewelry set, believed to date back to Western Roman times
‘Opportunities like this are incredibly rare. Students will get the chance to directly confront some of the ethical questions that the museum faced in accepting this collection under these circumstances,’ she said.
‘What if they were looted from their original archaeological site? Looting leads to the loss of cultural and scientific knowledge. Should we have advised on bringing them in without knowing where they came from? What would have happened to them if they weren’t brought in?
‘Students are literally going to have these issues in front of them. Integrating the ethical considerations alongside the hands-on study of this collection is going to be really valuable for students.’
The university also posed the possibility that the items may turn out to be forgeries, but Higgins and Tremain said their study would still provide valuable information for the students to study.
‘Even if these end up being forgeries, there’s still an interesting learning experience for the students,’ Higgins said.
‘What we’re doing is essentially being detectives – we’re trying to recover the story of these items,’ Tremain added.
‘They could offer up new information that may change the way we think about that culture or history. In which case, we want to know that we’re basing our theories on something that is authentic.’
Sue Knott, the executive director of Chilliwack Hospice Society which runs the thrift store, said it was a ‘privilege’ for the society to ‘contribute to the continuing story of these artifacts.’
‘This story is a beautiful reminder of how every donation carries meaningful history and unknown potential,’ Knott said.
