Morbidly interesting footnote: the coins on Lincoln's eyes (+ another giveaway)

No doubt you've heard about the old custom of people placing coins over a dead person's eyes, right? That custom goes way back to the ancient Greeks, in a tradition called Charon's Obol. The Greeks would put a coin (an obol) in the mouth, to pay for the dead person's passage to the Underworld. (It was to pay Charon, the boatman who ferried these souls across the River Styx.)

But much later, in the 19th century, heavy coins were placed over the dead person's eyes, to keep the eyelids from opening as the body settled.

Now, here's the morbidly interesting part. Did you know that two Seated Liberty half dollars, dated 1854 and 1861, were placed over the dead Abraham Lincoln's eyes when his body was laid out after his assassination in 1865? And they are in the Chicago History Museum today! I mean, how fascinating is that? I had never heard of these coins until recently.





Next, you will see pictures of another 1854 half dollar below- bearing the same date as one of the Lincoln coins.

We are giving away the coin below. It is a wholesome circulated example and the contest is totally free to enter.

It is the current (Round 4) prize in CTF Giveaway #2.

Just click here to enter Round 4 in the giveaway.

Random drawing on or after March 1, 2025.

To be eligible, you must post your contest entries in the linked thread, not in this one, though you are welcome to discuss the Lincoln coins in this thread.