Coins on graves
AntebellumGold
Posts: 73 ✭✭✭
It is common in West Texas to place coins and other items on graves.
At an abandoned cemetery in Big Bend National Park a couple of days ago, I saw this 1969 silver Kennedy half dollar on an unknown grave.
5
Comments
You should have tracked down a park ranger and asked him. He would have known.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
Known who the grave belonged to?
Young Numismatist • My Toned Coins
Life is roadblocks. Don't let nothing stop you, 'cause we ain't stopping. - DJ Khaled
No idea. The park ranger would know or should know the history or the significance of what @GoldIndian saw on the graves.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
There is conflicting information on who is buried here. Some sources say the graves are of Mexican laborers who worked in the area. Other sources give specific death dates (1920s and 1930s) of Anglos supposedly buried here, but the specific graves aren't identified, and the graves themselves have no identifying information.
The truth may be lost to time perhaps.
Most of the coins I've seen on graves are fairly recent, with dates in the past few decades. Given the extremely remote location and the difficulty of reaching this cemetery (4-wheel-drive required), it seems unlikely these coins are being left by descendants of those buried here. Rather, I suppose the coins are left by occasional adventurous strangers who are carrying on the tradition.
That works for me. And what coin did you leave?
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
Coins to pay Charon the Boatman to cross the River Styx to safely reach the underworld.
And what coins did you leave?
We left some Wilma Mankiller quarters.
It's legal to take things off of a grave, just wondering. Not starting any wars just wondering
Here in Philadelphia, the grave of Benjamin Franklin is behind a fence, and many pennies are pitched on it by tourists.
"A penny saved is a penny earned."
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I am not aware of codified law regarding removing coins from graves. With the myriad of state and federal laws in the U.S., it may exist somewhere. That being said, it is certainly disrespectful. Cheers, RickO
It is a tradition in the military community when visiting the grave of a fallen comrade to leave a coin as a memento of your being there - the larger the denomination the more you knew the person buried there.
Legal, I don't know. I do know if you remove anything from a grave site (flowers to coins) you are being very disrespectful!
USN & USAF retired 1971-1993
Successful Transactions with more than 100 Members
It’s bad luck too to remove coins from a grave. Worse than if you remove sand or rocks from that beach in Hawaii.
Mr_Spud
Coins have been left at graves since Roman times. As stated to "pay passage" to the afterlife.
More recently (partly because of the politics surroundingthe Vietnam War) a way of communicating and showing respect. The denomination of the coin has taken on meaning.
A penny represents a visit to the grave. A nickel that you went through boot camp with the deceased veteran. A dime that you served together in some capacity. A quarter being most significant that you were with the veteran when they died.
On non military headstones it has been adjusted to a visit, having gone to school with the deceased, having worked with the deceased, and having been with the deceased when they died.
Cool!! Who says you can’t take it with you??
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Taking a coin, or anything else from a grave, is stealing from the dead as far as I'm concerned.
Possibly useful for the departed to cross the River Styx:
https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/gods/charon/#:~:text=Those who passed away would have to cross,the mouth of the deceased prior to burial.
It might be legal to take the coins, but it would be in extremely poor taste to do so.
I agree that it is disrespectful. I would never.
email bcmiller7@comcast.net
In Baltimore, A portion of the monument at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe was paid for by schoolchildren who contributed "pennies for Poe." The monument was too large to be placed at the sight of Poe's grave so Poe was exhumed and moved to the place (in the same graveyard) where the memorial finally rests. BTW, there is an error on the memorial. It states that Poe was born on January 20th when he was actually born on the 19th.
But to be fair that grave is right next to the side walk.
It's also right across the street from the Mint isn't it?
Took this a few years back
Typical collector, me. Every time I walk past this, I look for wheat ear cents.
The obvious question is, what should happen to coins laid on gravestones? Perhaps the caretaker should periodically collect them and use them for upkeep of the cemetery?
I visit the cemeteries at Virginia City, NV, one or two times/year. I've seen modern coins on graves there as well - usually military.
- Ike Group member
- DIVa (Designated Ike Varieties) Project co-lead and attributor
To show the utmost respect they should toss Franklin Half's shouldn't they?
Definitely! LOL
Or something he'd have recognized. Maybe some Fugio cents...
Andrew Carnegie is buried nearby and there are always lots of coins on his grave.