# What does "I put pennies in your eyes" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 26, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-put-pennies-in-your-eyes-mean/177506 "2003-05-26T01:33:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![skin2skin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@skin2skin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skin2skin)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-put-pennies-in-your-eyes-mean/177506/1 "2003-05-26T01:33:38Z")
What does it mean, or stand for, when someone says, “I’ll put pennies in your eyes” or “I’ll put pennies in my eyes?” Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-put-pennies-in-your-eyes-mean/177506/2 "2003-05-26T01:36:25Z")
You’re dead. ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-put-pennies-in-your-eyes-mean/177506/3 "2003-05-26T01:38:22Z")
I’ve never heard that particular expression, but I have read that in “the olden days”, the mortician (or whoever prepared the body for burial/cremation) would place coins over the (closed) eyes of the deceased, in order to keep them closed. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-put-pennies-in-your-eyes-mean/177506/4 "2003-05-26T01:40:30Z")
AFAIK placing coins over the eyes isn’t to kep them closed. It’s a variation of the old custom of buring the dead with money to pay/bribe various spririts. The coins have veriously been placed under the tongue, on the eyes or in th ehands of the dead. ---
**Author:** ![skin2skin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@skin2skin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skin2skin)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-put-pennies-in-your-eyes-mean/177506/5 "2003-05-26T01:42:57Z")
I suspected it had to do with death, in some way, as it is in an Alice Cooper song, …and in the movie “The Hitcher”, the hitcher places pennies in the kid’s eyes. Thanx for the quick responses!!! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-put-pennies-in-your-eyes-mean/177506/6 "2003-05-26T02:52:34Z")
“The turk, the arab and the spaniard Will soon have pennies on their eyes” Pirates Emerson, Lake and Palmer ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-put-pennies-in-your-eyes-mean/177506/7 "2003-05-26T02:59:43Z")
The Alice Cooper song (_Steven_) mentioned by **skin2skin** is cooler. > [@](#): > > I don’t want to feel you die, > But if that’s the way > That God has planned you, > I’ll put pennies on your eyes > And it will go away, see? > You’ve only lived a minute of your life ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-put-pennies-in-your-eyes-mean/177506/8 "2003-05-26T03:15:32Z")
What about George Harrison’s “Tax Man”? > [@](#): > > My advice for those who die > Declare the pennies on your eyes ---
**Author:** ![Mundo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mundo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-put-pennies-in-your-eyes-mean/177506/9 "2003-05-26T03:42:10Z")
It’s a death thing, like everybody else said. I just wanted to add the movie **The Boondock Saints** has a pretty interesting example of this. They put the pennies in the eyes of the people they kill and mention it’s “origin”. They say it is a tradition in Greek and Roman mythology to put the pennies there to pay Charon, the boatman that would take the spirits to the Gates of Judgment. I put origin in quotes because I could only find a few other shaky sources so I don’t know if this is 100% true or not, but at least it’s a cool story. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-put-pennies-in-your-eyes-mean/177506/10 "2003-05-26T04:22:55Z")
Coins over the eyes, or under the tongue, would, according to legend, be payment for the ferryman who would transport the deceased across the River Styx. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-put-pennies-in-your-eyes-mean/177506/11 "2003-05-26T04:57:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Casey1505 \* > Coins over the eyes, or under the tongue, would, according to legend, be payment for **the ferryman** who would transport the deceased across the River Styx. [Whose name is Charon.](http://artyzm.com/world/s/subleyras/charon.htm) ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-put-pennies-in-your-eyes-mean/177506/12 "2003-05-26T05:30:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fear Itself \* > \*\*[Whose name is Charon.](http://artyzm.com/world/s/subleyras/charon.htm) \*\* With all those pennies, you’d think he could buy some pants. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-put-pennies-in-your-eyes-mean/177506/13 "2003-05-26T08:01:56Z")
It also has some practical significance. After death the eyes can shrink back into the sockets which can give a rather ghoulish appearance at an open-casket funeral. Modern day morticians have little plastic inserts which they place just under the eyelids for that just-sleeping affect. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-put-pennies-in-your-eyes-mean/177506/14 "2003-05-26T08:14:17Z")
I think we’re confusing two different customs. Putting a coin (typically a silver coin called an obol) in the mouth to pay Charon was ancient Greek pagan custom. A similar practice was traditionally followed in parts of China. In 19th century America, after body viewing became customary but before professional undertakers became established, coins were often placed on the eyelids. Their only purpose was to keep the eyes closed so as not to offend the viewers’ sensibilities. A forked stick was sometimes also placed between the chin and breastbone to keep the mouth closed. Modern undertakes now use adhesive to keep the eyes closed and they sew the mouth shut. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-put-pennies-in-your-eyes-mean/177506/15 "2003-05-26T08:19:45Z")
I see **ticker** snuck in while I was looking up the answer. Oh well. By the way, my source is _Death to Dust: What Happens to Dead Bodies_ by Kenneth V. Iserson, M.D. (second edition, 2001). > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TWDuke \* > \*\*With all those pennies, you’d think he could buy some pants. \*\* Makes you wonder where he’s put all those coins, doesn’t it?