Meaning of death penny | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A coin placed on the eyelid of a deceased person to keep the eye closed.
   historical, plural-normally
2. Synonym of Charon's obol (“a coin placed in or on the mouth of a deceased person as a bribe or payment for Charon, the ferryman of Hades”).
   Greek, Roman
3. The memorial plaque, a circular bronze plaque presented to the next of kin of British Empire personnel killed in World War I.
   UK, World-War-I, informal

Examples

“Afterwards the other seemed to die too, the breath leaving his body, the blood ebbing from his cheek, until his enemy came and stood one day looking down upon him, while he looked back from half-closed eyes, upon which they had already put death pennies, to keep down the lids.”

“He told me how in the oldest graves "death pennies," once used to close the eyes of the corpse, are found.”

“His hands fumbled, and his eyelids suddenly felt as if someone had weighed them down with death pennies.”

“You will not see him now, till a pinch of dust has been sprinkled on your brow, and the death-penny put into your mouth. Then, when you have crossed the dark river, he will be waiting for you on the other side.”

“"They will escape you yet, if you are not careful, and be off to their native woods." The soldier shook his head. "I have tied them fast," he said, "and they have no death-penny in their mouths to pay the ferryman to take them over the dark river."”

“A short service was hurried over; the small coffin was brought forward; the body was taken off the bier and laid in it. The priest poured some red wine on it, which stained the pure white robe, and placed bread, salt, and some small pieces of copper money beside it. […] [I]t is a strange remnant of pagan customs; and the death penny—that was to pay Charon for the passage over the Styx.”

“Government-inspired tokens of appreciation, such as the so-called ‘death penny’ or bronze plaque announced in 1918 and finally distributed in 1919 to next of kin, were not always accepted with the gratitude expected. Violet Baker had lost her beloved husband, Sam, and she was in no mood to be thankful. ‘My mother was given the death penny and I know that she was disgusted,’ recalled Violet. ‘“That for a husband,” she said.’”

“For those who did not come back, many families were to receive a bronze memorial plaque—the ‘Death Penny’—and an illuminated scroll, purporting to be from King George V. […] [T]hey became the tangible last abiding memento that their loved ones had ever existed in this world and that their exit from it had been, somehow, for a greater, nobler, reason. It is perhaps for exactly this reason that, within many Irish Nationalist homes, the death pennies, scrolls or medal groups were bitterly disregarded or sadly put away in drawers, not to be seen until many years later.”

“I think for most people it's the starting point: it's the grandmother telling you a story about the great-uncle that you never knew, or the photograph on the wall, or the death penny.”

“One man briefly told the story of his uncle, writing, 'I know my dad cherished Charlie's memory. The older of my brothers has Charles as a middle name and Charlie's "Death Penny" was always displayed at our family home.'”

CEFR level