The State - News from Nov. 13, 1988

A 200-year-old Spanish coin was among the relics found in a time capsule that had been placed beneath a cornerstone of the Orange County Courthouse on July 4, 1900. A decaying box containing the coin--recovered from Mission San Juan Capistrano after it was destroyed by an earthquake--along with documents including the county’s first list of voters was opened in a ceremony marking the start of the Orange County Centennial Corporate History Exhibit. But county historian Jim Sleeper said the unearthing of the box was largely a disappointment because moisture had reduced some of the documents to fragments. “The county spent $2,000 to pop that rock and pull out a $2 box with about 35 cents worth of history in it,” he said.