Maker: Unknown, 18th c.
Medium: Iron
MSA SC 1545-0912

Iron chests were used in the Treasury Building during the eighteenth century to hold colonial currency, gold coin, bills of credit, books, and other valuable documents. These heavy chests were probably made by artisans working in Annapolis, and would have been stored in the vaults beneath the Treasury Building. The Maryland Gazette regularly chronicled attempted break-ins, including one episode in 1762 when two men tried to “break into that Part of the Paper Currency Office where the Iron Chests are deposited, by undermining the foundation.” This particular attempt was unsuccessful, and the “audacious Villains” were arrested and jailed.