BOSTON — Early residents of Boston valued a robust press as much as their history and currency if the contents of a time capsule dating 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, two dozen coins, including one dating to 1655, and the seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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 then-Gov. Samuel Adams.
The contents were shifted to a second box in 1855 and put back. The box remained there until it was rediscovered last year during an ongoing water-filtration project at the building.
The oldest coin in the box was a 1652 “Pine Tree Schilling,” made at a time when the colony didn’t have royal authority to create its own currency.
Michael Comeau, executive director of the Massachusetts Archives and Commonwealth Museum, said he has seen the coins offered for as much at $75,000, although the context of this particular coin would probably value it much higher.
