Coins on military graves: Here's what they mean and what Fort Snelling does with them

In the tradition of leaving coins on military graves, a dime means the visitor served with the person buried there. A quarter means the visitor was there when the service member died. But coins are not on the approved list of items visitors can leave at gravesites at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. Veterans Day is Wednesday, and some people honor service members who have died with nothing more than change from their pocket. Fort Snelling is the final resting place for more than 219,000 people , and has been described as one of the busiest national cemeteries in the country . Leaving coins began in the Vietnam era, said Marshall Murphy, a Marine Corps veteran who is the director of the Fort Snelling National Cemetery Complex. Because of the political environment at the time, people "just wanted to leave something to let a family member know that they had been there," he said. Under the tradition, each coin has a different meaning: Penny: A visitor paying their respects. Nickel: The visitor and the service member trained together, such as at boot camp. Dime: The visitor and the service member served together, such as on deployment. Quarter: The visitor was there when the service member died, possibly in action. Fort Snelling recognizes the emotional message behind the coins, Murphy said, but the cemetery has two concerns: preserving the headstones and safety. The main problem is discoloration, Murphy said. The metals in coins can oxidize, leaving stains on the marble that are difficult to clean. Challenge coins, which are much larger than monetary coins, are covered in paint and made with ferrous metals that Murphy said will rust and leave marks on the stones. Coins that fall in the grass are at risk of being hit by lawn mowers. The blades slice them and launch them as sharp projectiles that can cut through the bottom of a shoe or puncture a tire. The coins left on headstones are not thrown out. Staff track all the coins collected from gravesites and add them to the cemetery's beautification fund, which pays for landscaping projects. "Although it's not a practice that we want to encourage, we know that it happens," Murphy said. The goal, he said, is to reduce the hazard and hassle the coins create while turning the practice into a positive for the property. What visitors can leave at Fort Snelling Fresh cut flowers: Allowed year-round. They must be placed next to the headstone and cannot be planted or placed in a metal or glass vase. The cemetery provides cone containers for flowers. Artificial flowers: Allowed Oct. 1 through April 1, to keep them from being cut by mowing equipment in spring and summer. Similar placement rules apply. Small flags: U.S., military branch, POW/MIA and Medal of Honor flags are allowed year-round. They must be staked into the ground, not draped on the headstone. Christmas wreaths and grave blankets: Allowed Nov. 1 to Jan. 20. Volunteers have also placed flags on the cemetery's graves around Memorial Day. "The sentiment is to make sure that others realize that that veteran, that family member wasn't forgotten," Murphy said. "That somebody cares, that there is somebody showing up to remember them, to pay respects to them." Murphy also suggested the Veterans Legacy Memorial, an online database of information on 10 million veterans, he said, who are interred at cemeteries across the country. He encourages people to upload pictures and stories of a veteran loved one to humanize them and let others learn about them. The memorial will last indefinitely, he said, so people can see that veterans "were real people that affected all of our lives." In: Fort Snelling Veterans Fort Snelling National Cemetery Featured Local Savings