Mock funeral held for the penny at Lincoln Memorial as 230-year coin production ends
People gathered in the nation’s capital on Saturday to pay their respects to the penny.
A mock funeral, hosted by financial management platform Ramp, was held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., following the end of production of the one-cent coin, FOX 10 reported.
Attendees surrounded a casket as speakers delivered eulogies — including actors portraying former President Abraham Lincoln and former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln.
A portrait made entirely of pennies depicting Abraham Lincoln — whose likeness appears on the coin — was also displayed at the event, according to The Associated Press.
Actors portraying Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were among the mourners, along with a portrayal of John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, FOX 10 reported.
The crowd also included people dressed as Santa Claus and Pennywise, the clown from “It.”
Ramp economist Ara Kharazian delivered an “autopsy report” outlining the penny’s economic demise.
The funeral followed last month’s ceremonial striking of the nation’s final penny by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, officially marking the end of penny production.
The penny has been part of the U.S. currency since the very beginning. It was first authorized under the Coinage Act of 1792.
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For more than 230 years, the penny has circulated through American piggy banks and cash registers.
But rising production costs – each penny now costs nearly 4 cents to make – and shifts in consumer behavior, such as the rise of digital payments, have made it impractical to keep producing them.
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In February, President Donald Trump announced plans to halt the production of pennies.
“For far too long, the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the U.S. Treasury to stop producing new pennies.”
FOX Business’ Amanda Macias contributed to this report.
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