Books, money, ammunition pulled from time capsule found at Lee statue site

Source: The Hill | December 28, 2021 | Brad Dress

Copper coins, rubber bands, a Bible, Confederate money and more historic artifacts were found inside of a time capsule unearthed from the site of a statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va.

Conservators confirmed the authenticity of the time capsule, a roughly 130-year-old copper box, at a Virginia Department of Historic Resources lab on Tuesday. During a livestream, they opened the box and found multiple items, including Minié balls used in musket firearms, old books and a Confederate flag.

The historic moment was also streamed on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s (D) Twitter page.

Kate Ridgway, the state archaeological conservator with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, said the items and artifacts were in “good condition.”

“What we’re seeing looks good — it’s in good condition,” she said.

Ridgway said that since the box was not placed with a desire to be opened in a certain period of time, it should be called a “cornerstone box” rather than a “time capsule.”

“Time capsules were meant to have a definite date for opening in the future and this definitely did not have that,” she said. “So calling it a cornerstone box is more accurate.”

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Earlier in December, workers located one time capsule, a small lead box containing books, a coin and other items. The original time capsule, which contained about 60 historic items donated from 37 Richmond residents, businesses and organizations, according to the Library of Virginia, was then found on Monday underneath the pedestal of the statue.

“It does appear that this is the box we expected,” Ridgway said of the second time capsule.

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