Another historical box has yet again paved the way to bring ourselves back to the past a little more some time. The Boston Time Capsule which was found in the cornerstone of the Massachusetts State House revealed antique contents that could date us back to the history even since the founding of the United States.
The Samuel Adams and Paul Revere Time Capsule or as known by the others as The Boston Time Capsule is thought to have been buried in 1795, and is now regarded as the oldest known time capsule in the United States. Historians believed that the metal container measuring 5-1/2 x 7-1/2 x 1-1/2 inches, and weighing about 10 pounds (4.5 kg) was created by Paul Revere who was a Revolutionary War Hero, William Scollay, a local developer, and Sam Adams who was an American statesman, political philosopher, and known as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
The original time capsule had been removed in 1855 and was cleaned and documented before it was placed back in the cornerstone, during some repairs to the building. But even with further examining on the box and with the use of X-ray, the contents were remained a mystery to everybody.
And finally on January 6, 2015, the box has made the whole United States even more excited with what are hidden inside the 220-year-old tattered time capsule when it was first opened by the group of specialists at Boston Museum of Fine Arts in a media event in the American gallery.
Museum director Malcolm Rogers said: “Though we knew a little bit about what was in the box, it was a moment of extraordinary excitement as this brass container just the size of a cigar box was slowly opened with surgical precision, and you suddenly found yourself in the presence of history,” American Web Media reported.
Pam Hatchfield, the expert who removed the contents of Paul Revere’s time capsule, has revealed 5 folded newspapers pages of the period which are amazingly kept in good condition; some 23 coins in denominations of “half-cent,” penny, quarter, dime and half-dime, on which some dated to the mid-19th century, while others were from 1795; a so-called “Pine Tree Shilling” dated to 1652; a copper medal with George Washington’s image and the words “General of the American Army”; a seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; and a title page from the Massachusetts Colony Records. There was also a silver plate with fingerprints still on it which is believed to have engraved by Revere, bearing an inscription dedicating the State House cornerstone on the 20th anniversary of American independence in July 1795. It took nearly an hour to remove all the items from the time capsule.
Sebastian Clarke, an appraiser for PBS’s “Antiques Roadshow,” described the finding as “magnificent” and said “the value has to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars” if confirmed to have been made by Revere himself,” according to CNN.
The objects will be placed on display for a time, before being returned to the time capsule. According to Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin, the time capsule will eventually be returned to the cornerstone, but it’s not certain whether state officials will add any new objects to it before burying it again.
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