Honoring heroes: The significance of coins on their graves
(WWTI) – Why is a quarter on a headstone important and why shouldn't you remove it?
According to the Wounded Warrior Project, each coin's denomination has a unique and important value, but placing a coin on a veteran's gravestone is a gesture of respect and honor, as well as letting the departed service member's family know someone was there.
What each denomination means:
Penny: Means someone has visited the grave;
Nickel: Signifies that the visitor served with the deceased service member at boot camp;
Dime: Means the visitor and deceased service member served together at some point; and
Quarter: This coin is left by someone who was physically with the service member when they died.
The tradition can be traced back to the Roman Empire, according to an article by the Department of Military Affairs. To pay for passage and protection over the River Styx, which divides the world of the living from the land of the dead, coins were put into the mouths of fallen soldiers.
During the Vietnam War, the tradition became well-liked in the United States as a means of remembering the dead amid political division and turmoil over a contentious conflict. The coins served to quietly honor service members and communicate a message of respect for their family members.
This Memorial Day, as we remember our fallen heroes, pay attention to the coins you see and make sure to leave them alone. While our economy makes it seem that coins don't have much value, on a veteran's gravestone, those coins take on a heavy duty of respect and honor and pay tribute to those who fell protecting the rights and freedoms of all US citizens.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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