Massachusetts Time Capsule Contains Historic Treasure Trove

TV journalist Geraldo Rivera scored big ratings when he opened mobster Al Capone's secret vault at the Lexington Hotel in Chicago, Capone's former headquarters, on live television on April 21, 1986.

An estimated 30 million viewers tuned in to see what was in the vault, making it the highest-rated syndicated special in history.

What was in the safe? A bottle of bootleg gin, a sign, and a pile of dirt.

Tough break, eh, Geraldo?

Massachusetts leaders fared better when they popped open a time capsule discovered in December 2014 during renovations to the Massachusetts State House.

History.com says, "According to historical accounts, Samuel Adams (who by then had become governor of Massachusetts), Paul Revere, and Colonel William Scollay placed the original contents of the time capsule in 1795, in a ceremony that started in downtown Boston and ended at the State House, then under construction."

The Massachusetts State House, completed in 1798, was built on Beacon Hill on land once owned by the state's first elected governor, John Hancock.

After unearthing the small copper alloy box, work crews notified the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Museum officials opened the box on January 6, 2015.

The time capsule contained silver and copper coins dating from 1652 to 1855, a silver plaque, a copper medal depicting George Washington, newspapers, a paper impression of the seal of the Commonwealth, calling or business cards, and the title page from the Massachusetts Colony Records.

It was not the first time the time capsule had seen the light of day.

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As work crews made emergency repairs to the State House in 1855, they found the time capsule, made of cowhide, replaced it with the copper alloy box, added a few coins and reburied it.

The time capsule's contents were displayed at the Museum of Fine Arts for several months, before the treasures were reburied in a stainless steel container in June 2015 with modern currency added for future generations to discover.

The new time capsule was filled with humified argon gas to prevent oxidation.