# The meaning of coins on tombstones



## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

This has been floating around facebook.

_Coins Left on Tombstones
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=423959827638020

While visiting some cemeteries you may notice that headstones marking certain graves have coins on them, left by previous visitors to the grave.

These coins have distinct meanings when left on the headstones of those who gave their life while serving in America's military, and these meanings vary depending on the denomination of coin.

A coin left on a tombstone or at the grave site is meant as a message to the deceased soldier's family that someone else has visited the grave to pay respect.

Leaving a penny at the grave means simply that you visited.

A nickel indicates that you and the deceased trained at boot camp together,while a dime means you served with him in some capacity.

By leaving a quarter at the grave, you are telling the family that you were with the solider when he was killed.

According to tradition, the money left at graves in national cemeteries and state veterans cemeteries is eventually collected, and the funds are put toward maintaining the cemetery or paying burial costs for indigent veterans.

In the United States, this practice became common during the Vietnam war, due to the political divide in the country over the war; leaving a coin was seen as a more practical way to communicate that you had visited the grave than contacting the soldier's family, which could devolve into an uncomfortable argument over politics relating to the war.

Some Vietnam veterans would leave coins as a "down payment" to buy their fallen comrades a beer or play a hand of cards when they would finally be reunited.

The tradition of leaving coins on the headstones of military men and women can be traced to as far back as the Roman Empire._

Well, that is new to me. I appreciate it and have learned something.

But the picture accompanying it is here:









That doesn't look like the tombstone of someone who died in the service of their country, (but apparently did service her countrymen) so I looked it up. This is the tombstone of Texas Ellen, who ran a bordello in Coloma California during the California gold rush. Her story is here: The Weekly Pioneer: Ellen Wilson


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## KentuckyDreamer (Jan 20, 2012)

What a beautiful thing to share. Thank you.


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## CarolT (Mar 12, 2009)

Wow. Died in 1855 and there are quarters on the stone.... Her customers sure live to a very old age... Or maybe it's like on Ghostbusters and she's still haunting the place? Would quarters apply?

I really like the story behind military tombstones. That is a nice way to show respect and will take some pennies next time I visit a cemetery. Thanks for sharing!


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## Sonshine (Jul 27, 2007)

I had never heard of this before. Pretty interesting.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

A quarter was a lot of money in 1855.


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## CarolT (Mar 12, 2009)

Those aren't 1855 quarters LOL They're modern ones


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## AR Transplant (Mar 20, 2004)

Thanks for this info, it is very interesting.
Pennies are left on my nephew's tombstone and it comforts his mother and father. They can tell if people stop by and I think it helps knowing that people care.
Because I live out of town, I save all the pennies I find that are the year of his birth and leave them there when I go to visit.


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

I had never heard of this either, very interesting, > Thanks Marc


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## SilverFlame819 (Aug 24, 2010)

So many cool traditions. I believe that the upside-down stamp also originated with soldiers... Putting the stamp upside down on the envelope meant "I love you" (whether being sent to or coming from someone in the field).


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## KentuckyDreamer (Jan 20, 2012)

AR Transplant said:


> Thanks for this info, it is very interesting.
> Pennies are left on my nephew's tombstone and it comforts his mother and father. They can tell if people stop by and I think it helps knowing that people care.
> Because I live out of town, I save all the pennies I find that are the year of his birth and leave them there when I go to visit.


Thank you for sharing...I visit cemeteries often for genealogy research. I will now start doing that on the headstones of my immediate family and friends.

Terri


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## galfriend (Nov 19, 2004)

Thanks Common Tator for sharing this! 
My DD took her kid's to visit her Uncle's grave (my brother) in a veterans cemetery. She called to tell me there were pennies on his grave marker and asked me if that had any meaning? I only assumed it meant that someone was marking their visits. I told her don't disturb them (she didn't).

Now, I know the meaning of coins left. So I really appreciated reading this! I even think I know who possibly left those coins too  
It is very touching to me to think that my brother is thought of by others. I really like this token of gesture.


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## Michael W. Smith (Jun 2, 2002)

Common Tator said:


> That doesn't look like the tombstone of someone who died in the service of their country, (but apparently did service her countrymen) so I looked it up. This is the tombstone of Texas Ellen, who ran a bordello in Coloma California during the California gold rush. Her story is here: The Weekly Pioneer: Ellen Wilson


Maybe those coins on her grave are from Grandsons and Great Grandsons and Great Great Grandsons of the men she "served"?!? Ellen must have served her men well, and they told their sons of Ellen's love. Those sons told their sons, and their sons told their sons and their sons told their sons. Great Great Grandpa Tom was one happy man. Great Great Grandma Rose was one unhappy woman. ound:


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## thomascanty (Jun 11, 2012)

While I've heard dozens of different explanations about why people leave coins on graves this is the first time I've heard someone claim that 1) it has a military significance, or 2) the denomination of the coin may have a specific meaning.

I've spent countless hours over the past couple decades in many cemeteries and I first noticed the practice on modern-day Jewish headstones. Some markers were almost buried, themselves, under coins (of many various denominations and countries of origin), rocks and other items visitors seemed to have simply found available in their pockets. My initial research seemed to suggest it was an ancient Jewish tradition, but I also see the same practice in other segregated cemeteries, whether they're Catholic, Masonic, IOOF, Native American, a small family graveyard on private property, or... Whatever.

The bio of Ellen Wilson you posted a link to is on my blog. A couple years ago someone asked me in the comments on another bio I wrote (*Panamint Annie*) about the coins on her grave. This was my answer:



> There are many theories as to the reasons why people leave coins on graves. A search on Google will bring up several of them. I don&#8217;t know when the practice began, but it&#8217;s usually done simply as a sort of symbol of respect and/or remembrance, kind of a way of letting the deceased know that they are still with you in your thoughts. Some sources say it dates back to Greek mythology and Charon, the ferryman on the river Styx, who charged a toll to transport the dead&#8217;s soul across the Styx. Back in the day people would place a coin in the deceased&#8217;s mouth for them to use to pay that toll. Some believe that the modern day tradition of placing coins on a grave stems from this old practice. Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn&#8217;t. I don&#8217;t really know.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

I'm so glad that you checked in here Thomas! After posting a link to your biography of Texas Ellen, I went back to your website and enjoyed reading about other colorful characters in California's history.

I'm also a history buff, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

SilverFlame819 said:


> So many cool traditions. I believe that the upside-down stamp also originated with soldiers... Putting the stamp upside down on the envelope meant "I love you" (whether being sent to or coming from someone in the field).


My extended family all does this when mailing something to each other.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Michael W. Smith said:


> Maybe those coins on her grave are from Grandsons and Great Grandsons and Great Great Grandsons of the men she "served"?!? Ellen must have served her men well, and they told their sons of Ellen's love. Those sons told their sons, and their sons told their sons and their sons told their sons. *Great Great Grandpa Tom was one happy man. Great Great Grandma Rose was one unhappy woman. ound:*


I have never quite understood why Rose should have been unhappy... 
Ellen (and many others of her trade) devote their life to making a lot of men happy, rather than making one man miserable. For this they become the targets of scorn and contempt. :shrug:


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

Yvonne's hubby said:


> I have never quite understood why Rose should have been unhappy...
> Ellen (and many others of her trade) devote their life to making a lot of men happy, rather than making one man miserable. For this they become the targets of scorn and contempt. :shrug:


You need to refer to my Incurable Gonorrhea thread! Grandma Rose wouldn't be happy if Grandpa brought home that kind of surprise! :nono:

Edited to add: In thinking about it, I think I haven't heard about men being more forgiving when their wives cheat on them than women are when their men cheat. Out of curiosity, how would Grandpa have reacted if he found out that Grandma Rose had visited the local bordello? One which employed both male and female hookers. So Rose is a happy woman, but little Johnny looks suspiciously like one of the gigolos that works at the bordello?


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Common Tator said:


> You need to refer to my Incurable Gonorrhea thread! Grandma Rose wouldn't be happy if Grandpa brought home that kind of surprise! :nono:


I read it, just didnt bother to comment on it.


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## thomascanty (Jun 11, 2012)

Common Tator said:


> I'm so glad that you checked in here Thomas! After posting a link to your biography of Texas Ellen, I went back to your website and enjoyed reading about other colorful characters in California's history.
> 
> I'm also a history buff, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!


Thanks! I'm glad to hear you liked it. Hopefully, soon my life will become a bit less hectic and I'll have the free time I need to get back to writing and posting to the blog again.

Since Memorial Day, Texas Ellen's page on my blog has become inexplicably popular, going from four or five page views each day to a few hundred. I've been looking through the logs trying to figure out where all the traffic is coming from and one of the backlinks I followed brought me here to this forum and thread. That explains *some* of the increase in traffic...


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

Thomas, The photo of Texas Ellen's tombstone was posted on facebook along with the explanation of the meaning of coins on tombstones that I copied and pasted in the original post. So all that day andpossibly the day before, I saw the same photo and link several times. I got curious about the photo, and did a google search based on the information that I could see in the photo. I found your blog, and started posting a link to it along with a description every time one of my facebook friends posted the picture. 

I like to post links to original information whenever I can. I want my sources to get credit for their own work. So in the original post here I have a link to the facebook page for the veterans group that gave the information about the coins, and I posted a link to your site for the information about Texas Ellen.

I think I drove some traffic to your blog. I'm quite impressed with your writing and research.


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## thomascanty (Jun 11, 2012)

Cool, thanks! Yes, the Facebook links are definitely the biggest source of my sudden surge in traffic.


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