220-year-old time capsule opened in Boston

The oldest time capsule ever discovered in America, which dates back to 1795, was opened Tuesday in Boston.

The time capsule was removed from the Massachusetts State House cornerstone Dec. 11 of last year, along with miscellaneous coins. Museum and state officials removed its contents for the first time since 1855, when its contents were documented and cleaned, officials said.

The relic had originally been placed under a cornerstone of the Boston Statehouse in 1795 by American Revolution patriot Paul Revere and then-Massachusetts Governor Samuel Adams.

Additional materials were added then to the time capsule in 1855, which was placed in brass, and plastered into the underside of the granite cornerstone.

The capsule was opened Tuesday evening at The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, allowing only credentialed media because of "extremely limited space and object sensitivity."

Pamela Hatchfield, head of objects conservation at the museum, first removed the lid after having loosened the screws beforehand for about four to five hours, she said. Inside the capsule, Hatchfield removed folded newspapers and minted coins.

"This is clearly a newspaper and it's really packed in there," Hatchfield said, wearing gloves and a white coat and using tools including a porcupine quill and a dentist's probe.

Hatchfield also found 24 coins in various denominations, all dating from the 1650s to the 1850s, when the capsule was opened then resealed. The folded newspapers appeared to be in very good condition but it was not possible to tell the dates or what news was being reported.

Because museum experts must use extreme caution in preserving the artifacts, more details are expected as Hatchfield and her team continue to exhume the capsule's contents.

Though, according to X-rays taken at the MFA in December, the capsule appears to contain even more artifacts.

"X-rays revealed what is believed to be a collection of silver and copper coins (dating from 1652 and 1855); an engraved silver plate; a copper medal depicting George Washington; newspapers; the seal of the Commonwealth; cards; and a title page from the Massachusetts Colony Records," the MFA said in a statement last month. "These objects were described in the 1855 account of the reburying ceremony."