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Man has wallet returned after losing it in Antarctica in 1968

Paul Grisham's wallet from 1968 still held his IDs, receipts, and a recipe for home-made Kahlua.

Paul Grisham's wallet from 1968 still held his IDs, receipts, and a recipe for home-made Kahlua. Photo: Christina Salazar

There’s little to rival the faith in humanity one feels when a lost valuable – like a watch or a wallet – is returned.

Now, imagine that feeling amplified: You lost your wallet in Antarctica. Some 50-plus years ago. But one day, it turns up at your doorstep.

That’s what happened to Paul Grisham, a retired Navy meteorologist, who spent a year stationed in Antarctica in 1967-68.

The wallet turned up during renovations at McMurdo Station, the United States’ main station on the continent, and where Mr Grisham spent his time there.

Mr Grishman told CNN he felt the memories come flooding back as he looked through the contents of his old wallet: An ID card, his driver’s licence, a beer token card (with 21 beers remaining!) and, a real sign of the times, an information card on what to do in the case of a nuclear attack.

Paul Grisham reunited with his wallet, 53 years later. Photo: CNN/Christina Salazar

There were also receipts from money orders, from when Mr Grisham used to send his poker winnings home to his wife and children.

Poker and chess were popular ways to pass the time on “the ice”, he said.

“The one thing that really made life worth living down there was the people that were there,” Mr Grisham told CNN.

“We wintered 180 men and they were the most congenial, likeable men that I ever had the pleasure to be around.”

At age 91, Mr Grisham now lives in San Diego, California.

Meteorologist Paul Grisham, left, spent 13 months stationed in Antarctica for the US Navy.

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