Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Saquon Barkley Plaque
Kirkkasik Bedesten inside
Kirkkasik Bedesten
Someshwar Temple
Someshwar Temple
Grilled cheese and tomato soup are soulmates.
The Palisades Restaurant
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The local catch is delicious fried as well.
Terry's of Charlevoix
Carlson’s Fishery is a Great Lakes institution.
Carlson’s Fishery
The Cathedral Café maintains the building’s original church exterior.
Cathedral Café
Exterior of the historic Dyffryn Arms pub.
Dyffryn Arms
Most of what’s on the menu here comes from Michigan.
The Glenwood
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Siegfried Tieber specializes in sleight-of-hand magic using small objects, as well as mentalism, which gives the illusion of reading minds.
Does a Magician Really Never Reveal Their Tricks? AO Wants to Know.
10 days ago
Decoy’s wines reflect the terroir of California.
How a Wooden Duck Migrated From the California Wetlands to a Wine Label
13 days ago
There’s more to the French capital than the Eiffel Tower.
Dear Atlas: What Are Some Non-Touristy Things to Do in Paris?
17 days ago
The plants around Liz Dauncey in this photo are not poisonous, but many common garden and houseplants are.
Are Some of Your Favorite Houseplants Poisonous? AO Wants to Know.
24 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Massachusetts Framingham Lothrop Wight Penny

Lothrop Wight Penny

This penny stopped a bullet and saved a soldier’s life during the American Civil War.

Framingham, Massachusetts

Added By
Josh Woolstenhulme
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Lieutenant Wight’s lucky penny.   TheDiscoveryService / Atlas Obscura User
Lieutenant Wight’s lucky penny.   TheDiscoveryService / Atlas Obscura User
  TheDiscoveryService / Atlas Obscura User
Photos of Lothrop Wight.   TheDiscoveryService / Atlas Obscura User
Reference collection of the Framingham History Center.   TheDiscoveryService / Atlas Obscura User
Wight Family memoir.   TheDiscoveryService / Atlas Obscura User
  TheDiscoveryService / Atlas Obscura User
  TheDiscoveryService / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

It is a common trope in movies and popular culture: A character is shot, and the wound seems fatal. But then, miraculously, they reveal they are unharmed, spared by an item in their pocket. It could be a bible, a flask, a pocket watch, a locket, or, as in the real-life case of Lieutenant Lothrop Wight, a penny he had in his pocket when he was struck by a Confederate bullet in 1864.

When the Civil War broke out in the spring of 1861, thousands of men across the northern states signed up to fight for the Union. Lothrop Wight was one of them—he enlisted in the 16th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry as a Second Lieutenant from Framingham, Massachusetts. Despite his enthusiasm and commitment, his army career was cut short by a conflict with his commanding officer, Captain Henry Lawson, who he believed to be incompetent. According to Framingham Legends & Lore, Wight filed charges against Lawson, accusing him of negligence, but Wight in turn was charged with insubordination and was dishonorably discharged in November 1861.

Determined not sit out the war, Wight enlisted in the US Navy and served aboard the USS Wachusett and USS Vanderbilt as part of the Union blockade of the Confederate states. In July 1864, while patrolling the James River near Richmond, Virginia, on the USS Mendota, he was struck by Confederate gunfire. Fortunately for Wight, a penny in his breast pocket stopped the bullet.

After the war, Wight worked as a florist in the town of Wellesley, not far from Framingham, until his death in 1918. The penny was passed down through his family until they donated it to the Framingham History Center. It remains in Framingham today, a large dent visible from the impact of the bullet along with fragments of the projectile that fused to the penny in the heat of the moment.

Related Tags

Coins History Us Civil War

Know Before You Go

The penny is in the reference collection of the Framingham History Center, which is only open by appointment. You can contact them via the contact info on their website.

Community Contributors

Added By

TheDiscoveryService

Published

January 22, 2024

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • Parr, James L., and Kevin A. Swope. “Merchants and Abolitionists.” Essay. In Framingham Legends & Lore, 86–89. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2009.
  • https://www.facebook.com/framinghamhistory/posts/10159356203844872/?paipv=0&eav=AfbwRIWnqRtLS-UGnu1-RHWa1C-FRE9HCnjGCZkbU1ETJtauSkoKy-Xg_UPwvTGUrdE&_rdr
  • https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/west/2012/05/02/framingham-historians-find-trove-civil-war-relics-civil-war-relics-revisited-relics-civil-war/GjlVMoNtKAah3aJsoAbXHJ/story.html
  • https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/story/entertainment/2011/06/19/framingham-remembers-civil-war-with/41092063007/
  • https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/bulletin-tab/2017/04/22/the-battle-cry-freedom/21323167007/
Lothrop Wight Penny
16 Vernon St
Framingham, Massachusetts, 01701
United States
42.302782, -71.435819
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller Collection

Framingham, Massachusetts

miles away

The Plymouth Church

Framingham, Massachusetts

miles away

Graves of John Cloyce & Abraham Rice

Framingham, Massachusetts

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Framingham

Framingham

Massachusetts

Places 7

Nearby Places

Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller Collection

Framingham, Massachusetts

miles away

The Plymouth Church

Framingham, Massachusetts

miles away

Graves of John Cloyce & Abraham Rice

Framingham, Massachusetts

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Framingham

Framingham

Massachusetts

Places 7

Related Places

  • Robert E. Lee House from Evergreen Street.

    Boerne, Texas

    Robert E. Lee House

    This small, 19th-century structure is all the remains of a once lively travelers' inn that General Robert E. Lee frequented.

  • The “Kajiki cash” was once minted at this spot.

    Aira, Japan

    Kajiki Unofficial Mint Site

    Imitations of Chinese coins were minted here for foreign trade before Japan got its own currency.

  • Tannehill Ironworks

    McCalla, Alabama

    Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park

    The remains of a foundry and old blast furnaces destroyed during the Civil War are preserved in this central Alabama park.

  • Akron, Ohio

    John Brown Monument

    A moving tribute to a leader of the American abolitionist movement.

  • People place pennies on the blank headstone.

    Baltimore, Maryland

    Grave of John Wilkes Booth

    A blank headstone topped with a pile of pennies marks the final resting place of the infamous assassin.

  • Beauvoir

    Biloxi, Mississippi

    The Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library

    A historic Civil War estate-turned-museum looks back on the Confederate States of America.

  • Perimeter of the garden

    Arlington, Virginia

    The Graves of Robert E. Lee's Garden

    Soldiers were buried next to Lee's house in the center of Arlington Cemetery to dissuade the general from reclaiming his property after the war.

  • Killiansburg Cave, June 2016

    Sharpsburg, Maryland

    Killiansburg Cave

    A cave on the Maryland border where civilians took refuge during the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.