A time capsule was unearthed after the James Building was demolished at the weekend.

A glass bottle inside a ball of mortar contained a copy of from May 25, 1961 and a five-crown shilling, also from that year.

Robert George Peets, one of the original builders and who bought the mortar used to preserve the bottle, was on hand at the site yesterday during a press conference.

Also in attendance was Oraefo Adisa, a transport and equipment manager from Bermuda Stone Quarry who found the capsule and Works and Engineering Minister David Burch.

Mr. Peets said it was customary at the time for owners to use a time capsule to remember the era when the building was erected.

?We put a crown shilling that wasn?t used as money ... you would have to buy it from the bank as a keepsake and a newspaper because it was the cheapest way of documenting that time,? Mr. Peets said.

He said the building?s owner, Jonathan James, placed the capsule in the stone.

Mr. Peets said that once he heard about the demolition plans, he told people about the ?buried? treasure.

Mr. Peets said if the family doesn?t want the contents of the capsule, he will keep it as a souvenir because ?it all had to do with my dad and uncle?.

Mr. Adisa said that finding the time capsule, which took approximately two hours, was like ?looking for a needle in a haystack?.

He said that just before he located it, he hit a piece of 14-inch Bermuda stone ?really hard? and ?out popped a ball of mortar and I could see a piece of glass.?

The site will be the new home of the Bermuda Police Service headquarters.