Box placed by Revolutionary era luminaries; items to be returned to where they were found

Boston residents in the newly formed United States valued a robust press as much as their history and currency if the contents of a time capsule dating back to a decade after the Revolutionary War are any guide.

When conservators at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, gingerly removed items from the box on Tuesday, they found five tightly folded newspapers, a medal depicting George Washington, a silver plaque, two dozen coins, including one dated 1652, and the seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.