West Point time capsule: Coins and medal found in mysterious box

A time capsule from the 1820s that appeared to be empty when opened in a highly anticipated ceremony at the West Point US military academy was later found to contain coins and a medal.

The lead box was searched in front of a room of cadets and a livestream audience, but it appeared to contain nothing but sediment.

Hopes of a big discovery were dashed.

Yet further examination and a careful sift through the silt revealed a medal and six very old coins.

The coins were minted in years ranging from 1795 to 1828. with values ranging from one cent up to one dollar.

The box also contained a medal that celebrates the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825. The canal was built in eight years and connected the Hudson River in New York to the Great Lakes.

After the anti-climax of the event, West Point archeologist Paul Hudson used a wooden pick and a brush to carefully search the sediment inside the box.

"Before long, lo and behold, there's the edge of a coin sticking out," he told Associated Press. "And I thought, well that's OK. That's something, that's a start."

At Monday's ceremony, young troops had watched as some of West Point's top brass took the stage to celebrate the exciting moment.

In front of them, centre stage, was the grey box - 12in by 12in by 13in (30cm by 30cm by 33cm) - and two school employees, standing by with purple rubber gloves and white masks, prepared to unveil its contents.

The box had been found a few months earlier, during the restoration of a bronze statue of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a celebrated war hero and statesman.

Underneath the marble face of the monument the box was discovered, apparently placed there during the completion of the statue in 1829.