Items passed down from generation to generation can make the most unique treasures.

A Royal Mark

"I have my great-great grandparents passports. They're handwritten on a single piece of paper and signed by Queen Victoria."

– LeC*ntyChiot

A Sailor's Book

"My grandfather was on the USS Indianapolis during WWII and was transferred off of it before they delivered the bombs and it sank … he happened to take a book from the ship's library and never returned it. I inherited all of his books and happened to stumble across it while going through them… it's stamped with the ship's library stamp. So unless any other sailor took a book from the library of the USS Indianapolis before it sank and then held onto it all these years, this may be the only one in the world."

–alicat9713

A Lead Engineer's Proof Of Concept

"My grandfather was one of the lead engineers on the Oxcart/Blackbird project for Lockheed. He engineered the pressure lock system for the cabin for high altitudes. I'm in possession of a miniature proof-of-concept he made for the lock!​"

– anothergothchick

Adrift At Sea

"My grandfather's diary when he was lost at sea during ww2. Records deaths and a few comments about raging hunger. 6 weeks adrift."

"Heres the backstory, he was serving in the merchant navy on a ship in the south Atlantic, they got torpedoed by a u boat and came under fire, his cousin took a shell to the chest, killing him instantly in front of him, they scrambled to the lifeboats and got into one."

"The ship went down."

"After all the commotion the u-boat resurfaced and the german captain spoke to them, the merchants were unarmed. He explained that they were at war and attempted to give the sailors bread and potatoes, fearful that they were poisoned the food was thrown overboard."

"They were adrift miles from land, unable to see the shore or any landmarks to navigate to. Over the coming weeks they collected rainwater and tried to fish as best they could but they were starving."

"The entries in the diary are brief but concise, people were dying of their injuries and dehydration."

"After roughly six weeks they were spotted by another merchant ship and rescued."

"When they returned to the uk they were awarded medals but they refused them, turning their merchant navy pins upside down (MN to NW) to represent NOT WANTED."

"He never spoke about this to me directly as after the war he did not want to relive the experience."

"He had 2 children and 5 grandchildren and passed away in 1995."

"Vivian (Ted) Fowler."

"Rip."

"Nb: other family members have requested reading it but its in such bad condition, 77 years old, that i refuse to let it out of my sight. Its kept in a plastic bag in a drawer away from harm."

– South5

It doesn't get more unique than these items personalized with an autograph.

Autographed Run-And-Shooter Game

"A 'Contra' NES cartridge autographed by Billy Dee Williams."

– FromMyInternetDevice

Phantom Masters & A Personally Engraved Silver Cup

"The master recording of the Phantom of the Opera (or, part of it, anyway). My dad was the recording engineer so he had the tape from when they made an album of the show with the original cast."

"Edit: bonus item… a silver Tiffany's cup and spoon that was given to me when I was born by Phyllis Diller. She also had it engraved 'love, Phyllis Diller.'"

"Edit 2: My parents were friends with her, so she gave them an engraved silver Tiffany's cup and spoon when I was born. She was in no way involved in the birth."

– hotarume

Not all possessions can be bought. Sometimes we simply acquire things under various circumstances.

Saving A Bone

"A human atlas bone from the site of a medieval prison. 25yrs ago my then bf was working as the lowest ranked barrow pusher on a building site. Foreman knew that ancient bones may turn up and knew he was supposed to send for the archaeologists if so. Bones turned up, foreman said f'k that, we're filling in, not getting behind schedule for some old sh**ty prisoner bones. BF tried to say something but would have been fired if he pushed it. He was pretty horrified but couldn't lose his job, and crept back to take a bone after the site closed. In his mind it was a way of saying we'll remember you, even if you're under concrete. We were only teenagers, so didn't really know what to do with it for the best. I have kept it in a box ever since. I know I should do something with it."

– alancake

Conductive Retainer

"Up until a week ago, a mouth that picked up radio stations."

"I play in bands, and for years couldn't figure out why whenever I would get close to the microphone, the PA system would pick up local radio stations. I always assumed it was due to crappy unshielded mic cables."

"Well, I went to the dentist and decided to get my permanent retainer removed. I scheduled an appointment and that night had band practice. I got close to the mic and picked up a radio station."

"It occurred to me that my retainer (if you're unfamiliar, a permanent one is basically just a steel wire glued in your mouth) was slightly bent and conductive."

"Sure enough, the next week I got it removed and now I don't pick up radio stations anymore near microphones. 😟"

– ProbablySlacking

Key To The Past

"A key to unlock the B6 level on an elevator in the World Trade Center along with a matching Port Authority issued ID card."

– JimTheJerseyGuy

Salvaged From The Wreckage

"A piece of a turbine from a crashed Airbus A300."

"I was in charge of the environmental cleanup following the crash. We removed some 6,000 yards of contaminated soil. When we were loading one of the trucks the NTSB guy spotted it in the dirt and said something to the effect of 'That's a really valuable piece of metal, I wouldn't let it go to the landfill', so I grabbed it and threw it in my truck. It's fairly large. I had planned to do something cool with it, but it turns out it's too hard of a metal alloy for anyone to work with without specialized tools. So now it sits in my garage. The crash was in 2013, it was a cargo plane, the pilots died."

– Badfish1060

My unique item is a vintage steamer trunk that belonged to my great aunt and uncle who lived in a Japanese internment camp as a result of President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066, which was issued on February 19, 1942.

But I didn't learn of the trunk's history until recently.

My great aunt and uncle brought their trunk with them when they were cruelly evicted from their home in California to live in barracks at Heart Mountain in NW Wyoming.

My father acquired the trunk after my great aunt and uncle passed away and we sold their house in Pomona, California.

It sat neglected in our garage for years, and when it was time to sell our home, my brother and I considered getting rid of it without consulting our father first. It wasn't until our neighbor saw my brother and me putting the worn and dusty trunk out on the street for people to take when he apprised us of its presumptive value.

After my dad found out what we were attempting, he told us about the trunk's history.

This led to my decision to keep the trunk, not only for its monetary value but because of its role in our family history.