Early residents of Boston valued a robust press as much as their history and currency if the contents of a time capsule dating back to the years just after the Revolutionary War are any guide.
When conservators at the Museum of Fine Arts gingerly removed items from the box Tuesday, they found five tightly folded newspapers, a medal depicting George Washington, a silver plaque inscribed by Paul Revere, two dozen coins, including one dating to 1655, and the seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
"Gives you such a sense of history and being connected with the past that not very many people have an opportunity to experience that close up," Pam Hatchfield, MFA Head of Objects Conservation, said.
The capsule was embedded in a cornerstone of the Massachusetts Statehouse when construction began in 1795. It was placed there by Revolutionary era luminaries including Paul Revere and Samuel Adams, governor of Massachusetts at the time.
The contents were shifted to a second box in 1855 and put back.
With at least one coin valued at around $75,000, how much could it all be worth?
"I couldn't hazard a guess for that. I'm not an appraiser, but I will say this as a perspective such as mine, it can't be replicated," Michael Comeau of the Massachusetts Archives and Commonwealth Museum, said.
