Can digital signal be received by standard antenna?

I have a rather expensive rotor antenna that was installed 11 years ago but a year later I hooked up to satellite TV. The antenna and rotor still work fine and hook up to the box, TV, or whatever with coaxial cable.
So.... If I give this antenna and rotor along with a two year old digital TV with coaxial hook-up to a (very) poor neighbor can she receive the new digital signal from local stations through the air and directly into a digital TV without the need for a converter box? It's my understanding the the box converts digital to analog so in this case it seems like the "box" could be avoided.
Any thoughts on this? Thanks to all that help.

Absolutely, any antenna that receives over-the-air channels for analog television sets will also be able to receive digital television signals as well. A lot of antenna manufactures are now labling their latest antenna products as DTV ready, but truth be told, it's just clever marketing.

The setup you described (digital tv, antenna, coax wire) which you will be giving to someone should be completely ready for digital television (once it's completely connected), ONLY if the television set has it's own digital tuner.