D.C. residents hold funeral for the penny

WASHINGTON (NBC, KYMA) - At the Lincoln Memorial Saturday, D.C. residents gathered for a "very serious" funeral for the penny.

What seemed to have started as a somber memorial quickly turned into something a little more humorous as people, dressed to the likeness of Abraham Lincoln, served as pallbearers carrying an empty casket, and several guest speakers made an appearance.

This includes Mary Todd Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, even John Wilkes Booth, and of course, the man of the hour, Lincoln himself.

Each of the speakers cracked jokes about the now retired coin and referenced various points of history relating to the 16th president of the U.S.

Attendees were asked to bring a penny and at the end of the event, they were able to toss those coins into the coffin, a final farewell for the one cent.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump ordered the production of pennies to be stopped due to the rising cost to make them, which is about four times higher than what they're worth.

The U.S. Mint struck its last penny on November 12. However, billions of pennies remain in circulation.