If you could go back in time and grab one handful of treasure...

I wanted to be in Dahlonega back in the 1840/50s with enough money to be able to buy a couple of mint state gold coins

 

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Actually you have their DNA, it is a part of yours! So DNA analysis IS a little like going back in time because you can trace your ancestry through your own DNA but only to an extent. The genealogy side of things is where you find out more about specific things about your specific ancestors. DNA can help trace what part of the World your mapped genome originates from.

 

It would be a hard decision, but the first idea to come to my mind was to take a bag of newly minted Chain cents from the Philadelphia Mint.

 

Yes, I have their dna in me, but that many generations ago there may be one or more not represented in me. Theoretically, I should carry (if dna was evenly inherited) at my great great grandparent level, 6.25% of each of them (of course each of them being 25% of each of their grandparents), but it is not so neat. Meaning that one or more of them may not show up in me at a level that is measurably significant, and it is possible, in the generations between that getting to me, one or more of those great greats may not even be in me, but has dropped completely.

 

Speaking strictly coins...California Assay Gold with provenance from Sutter's Mill...Spark

 

It is not theoretical it is fact that you inherit half your DNA from your mother and half from your father. They do the same; none drops out. It may get to very low levels the more generations back you go but it is there and detectable.

 

Coin wise.... It would be a handful from one of the six sunken Spanish galleons that were sailing South American treasure in the 16th century back to Spain before they were all sunk in a hurricane. Man, what history would lie in that handful.

Self servingly, I would go back to 1956 and lay my hands on Leo Fenders new creation.... The Fender electric bass guitar.

Personally, I would send myself to WW1 and find a certain German private and lay waste to his miserable life before he had the opportunity to murder untold millions some thirty-odd years later.

 

Actually, you do normally inherit half of each parents dna, except in cases of uniparietal diaomy. But that does not mean that each individual in your past is represented in you. So, yes you can have ancestors dropping out. And as far as detectability goes, an example is Ancestry where they set their minimum to 6 CMs. But that amount is, though detectable, comprised of what has (when matched to others who share that same portion) results which the majority are of IBS rather than IBD... meaning it is shared not because you absolutely have the same ancestor, but your ancestors may have non-unique dna relative to a geographical region... and any matches have to be considered not provable, even if you find a paper trail. Basically, let's just take one of the great great grands I spoke of..... that person is comprised of, theoretically, 6.25 percent of each of their great great grands, if they inherited an equal amount (and dna is not passed down equally... in fact, some chromosomes actually divide more often than others, and they can divide more based on sex of the person who gets them, and again, any person might be subjected to uniparietal disomy, where part or all of the pair of chromosomes actually comes from only one parent), if it was even, you would only be getting .39% of each of the great great grandparents' great great grands. So you are trying to justify that everyone absolutely inherits a part of each of their 32 ancestors at the great great grandparents level, of which these 32 represent an additional 256 further back ancestors at that second level (though some may be represented more than one time, through endogamy), for a total of up to 510 unique individuals behind you, of whom some may have inherited larger portions of their ancestry or smaller portions or none.

It is very plausible that an ancestpr can drop out.... all it takes is that when parents pass on their half, you randomly get more of that parents 3 of 4 Grandparents than is perhaps passed on when your siblings get some.

 

I've seen this first hand for myself! I recently got a DNA test. I know for a fact that my great grandfather is full blood Native American. Nothing showed up on the test. Nothing at all and I researched how this would be possible and I got the same explanation.

 

I'm waiting for mine to come back.
If I went back in time, I would grab all the 1909 VDB matte proofs I could find.

 

Okay I accept your explanation and my point is really that the DNA will really only tell you more or less where your ancestors are from and maybe some things about physical traits. It wont tell you much about who they were as individuals.

 

I'd go back to 1804 and not leave until I had one specimen of every coin and variety minted by the fledgling US Mint.

 

It would be back to the Roaring 20's for me. I would go to the Denver Mint early in 1928 and purchase not one but two rolls of the '27 D double eagles and bring them back to now. Set for life.

 

Thanks for stopping the hijacking ;-)

And I must say, dude, you must have the largest hands in the history of mankind ;-)

 

Yes Morgans! 1879,1889,1892,1893 CC's and 1893S!!!

 

I'm an old farm boy so I think I could grab a couple!

 

First of all my apologies to the OP for my role in the sidetrack into DNA analysis topic as interesting as it may be to some. My one thing would be to go back and not get Kasia started on the DNA sidetrack by not saying that one's great great grandparents DNA is represented in one's own DNA. Peace.

 

Don't forget a mint fresh bag of 1932 Denver Washington Quarters if any of ya'll get to go!!!!

 

With all of the Mint state coins everyone wants to bring back I think they will all become common dates and grades so the value will be considerably lower.