[ad_1]
Hundreds of mock mourners headed to The Lincoln Memorial on Saturday to attend a “funeral” for the penny.
Hundreds of mock mourners headed to the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday to attend a “funeral” for the penny.
Along with musicians playing taps, there were a couple of Abraham Lincoln look-alikes, actors portraying George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Mary Todd Lincoln, and yes, even John Wilkes Booth.
The ceremony started with pallbearers dressed as Lincoln carrying a white casket. People were encouraged to toss pennies in the open casket like a wishing well.
This page contains a video which is being blocked by your ad blocker.
In order to view the video you must disable your ad blocker.
Penny ‘funeral’ brings hundreds to Lincoln Memorial
Hundreds of mock mourners headed to the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday to attend a “funeral” for the penny.
Along with musicians playing taps, there were a couple of Abraham Lincoln look-alikes, actors portraying George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Mary Todd Lincoln, and yes, even John Wilkes Booth.
The ceremony started with pallbearers dressed as Lincoln carrying a white casket. People were encouraged to toss pennies in the open casket like a wishing well.
One of the crowd favorites was a speech given by Knowlton Anderson, who works for RAMP, the all-in-one financial operations platform that put on the funeral.
“I am Abraham Lincoln’s second cousin, six times removed.” said Anderson. “No one has ever found it interesting. But suddenly, the penny is dying, and now I’m in hot demand.”
After the funeral, Anderson told WTOP, “the gathering was a great testament to how much people actually do care about the penny and coinage.”
Before the start of the ceremony, RAMP’s creative producer Amber Layne explained the reason behind the funeral.
“As you know, the federal government stopped minting pennies last month, and so RAMP decided to throw a ceremony and invite the community to grieve together and say goodbye to inefficient spending,” said Layne.
A lot of those in attendance were dressed in Victorian-age fashion and one person was wearing a Penny Wise costume.
Of those attending the funeral, Aubrey Sellman from Arlington, Virginia, brought a penny pillow that she bought from the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia.
“It’s an injustice really, the penny is a very impactful part of my life,” said Sellman.
Another mourner said she was going to miss the cups on the counter at stores that read, “need a penny, take a penny.”
There were also two coin appraisers that were both in the early 20s, who met with the crowds and showed them historic and valuable pennies.
Hunter Hicks and Ethan Opdahl’s friendship started at coin camp. The two, who bickered like Larry David and and the late Richard Lewis, were as entertaining as anything on stage during the mock funeral.
“Lincoln was added in 1909 for his 100th birthday, and it is the longest serving design, I believe, on any U.S. coin ever,” said Hicks.
“I’d say what most people don’t know about the penny is probably that it was costing about four times what it was worth when they stopped making it,” said Opdahl. “So we weren’t profiting on the penny.”
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
[ad_2]
Jimmy Alexander
Source link
