An antique has to be how old?

[galaxywomun]

cool!  i kinda like it here 

[fancypants]

My 2 cents is from a perspective that's decades old ....

used to be a 'rule of thumb' for reputable dealers :

'true' antiques are 100 years old , or more , and hand-made (some exceptions were made for metal/porcelain/ivory/mineral & glass hardware on antiques , though) .

[Mindings]

The definitions of antique and vintage do seem to vary a great deal from country to country, but sometimes even within a country. I was always bought up as a Brit., to rate antique as 100 years or more and vintage 60 years or more. Collectables however can be newer than this is there is demand and scarcity. BTW I am Vintage!
Phil

[talesofthesevenseas]

Thanks for sharing those essays CC! 

[hosman321]

Everyone is right, 100 or more years is considered an antique. But I think there is a little big of wiggle room here. I think it should be about 90 years. I have items from the 20s and I consider them antique. Once you get into the 30s and 40s though, I just look at them as "old." Not really antique or vintage. Most people consider vintage to be 25 years old. Frankly, something made in 1986 is not vintage to me. Most of it is just junk. I would say 50+ years is vintage to me. It's all sort of a matter of opinion.