INTERESTING FIND

Hokitika Guardian, 1 May 1926, Page 4

INTERESTING FIND

OLD PAPERS AND COINS. AUCKLAND, April -.'9. A highly interesting find was made by some workmen who are demolishing the old Oddfellows' Hall in Queen Street and preparing the site for the new theatre. A bottle containing coins and newspapers, usually deposited under the foundation stone of a building, was found. Inside was a damp bundle of paper and about a dozen round pieces of metal, all blackened. Unfortunately the cork that had been used was apparently not of good quality, and it had decayed and allowed the damp to get at the contents. I A little rubbing of the coins revealled a half-crown, a florin, a shilling, two threepenny bits, a sixpence, a half farthing and something that was probably a farthing before it had corroded. There were also several very small coins, not more than a quarter of an inch in diameter. Most of them were so corroded that- it is now impossible to say what they were, but one of them was evidently struck in commemoration of the birth of Princess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria, and another refers to the marriage of the Queen and the Prince Consort. The money is dated from 1842. two years after Auckland was founded, down to 184(i. There were no gold coins. When dried out. the newspapers proved to be a. copy of the “Southern Cross’’ of March 17, 1852, a copy of the “New Zealander” of the following day, and two copies of “Ko to Karero Maori” (“The Maori Messenger”), printed in Maori and English in paral. lei columns.

These old journals, were wrapped-in a piece,of parchment, which, nthough turned to a rich coffee colour, is still as tough as the fresh article. The string round the .bundle, fell to pieces when touched, and the journals themselves were little better than pulp.

Here and there, however, the print has remained singularly clear, notably part of an article in the Maori journal concorning the characteristics of tho wild ass, with illustrations from the Scripture and the, classics...