Carpenter finds wallet that went missing 51 years ago, then tracks down its 68-year-old owner

A wallet that disappeared in 1975 has finally found its way back to its owner, 51 years later. Carpenter Matty Goldsmith stumbled upon it under floorboards while working on a home renovation in Dartmouth.

The wallet’s owner goes by the name of Richard Gilroy who is now 68 years old and hasn’t seen his wallet since he was a teenager. Inside were his original handwritten birth certificate, driver’s license, a dollar bill, and a ticket to a 1975 production of Hamlet that he can’t seem to remember watching.

Rather than leave the mystery unsolved, Goldsmith turned to social media to find the wallet’s owner. According to People, Gilroy’s wife, Donna, spotted the post, and the long-lost wallet was back in her husband’s hands.

Facebook became the ultimate lost and found tool

Goldsmith and his colleagues initially suspected the wallet belonged to a student who might have worked at the property long ago. Fortunately, its contents offered more than enough clues.

Goldsmith posted about it in a local Facebook group on September 23, asking whether anyone knew Gilroy. “I decided, like, why not try our luck with the internet and see if we can track this person down,” he told the CBC.

Using Facebook as a tool to return things lost in time or under floorboards worked. She even shared that her husband is “alive and well.” Better yet, he knew exactly which house the wallet had disappeared in. It was returned on September 26, just three days after Goldsmith’s post.

A 1975 ‘Hamlet’ ticket was a fun surprise

While Gilroy remembered losing the wallet, he couldn’t account for everything inside it. The handwritten birth certificate was one mystery. He had no idea why his parents would have entrusted him with the original document.

Then there was the theater ticket. Gilroy had apparently held on to admission for a 1975 performance of Hamlet, but couldn’t remember ever attending. What impressed him was the price of just $1.50. “I was very surprised, to say the least. I’m very pleased to get it all back,” Gilroy told the CBC.

For a little perspective on that 1975 price tag, the Bank of Canada’s inflation calculator lets people compare what money could buy then versus today. Of course, that doesn’t mean a modern theater ticket would cost the same after adjusting for inflation, but it’s certainly fun to see how currency changes with the times.

Goldsmith shared that he has discovered other unusual objects during renovation work, but this was his first find containing someone’s identification. On the other hand, Gilroy plans to frame the wallet’s contents and put them on display. After spending 51 years out of sight, the lost-then-found wallet is finally getting a place where its owner can see it. For this wallet lost in time, all it apparently took to be reunited with its owner was a lot of patience and a carpenter with a Facebook account.

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