Samuel Coit Monument

The hollow metal monument that graces the lot of Samuel Coit is commonly called a zinkie. Although marketed as white bronze, the monument is made of zinc and is bluish-gray in color.

Cast in molds, zinc monuments were available in designs similar to stone monuments. Once assembled and fused together, the zinc was sandblasted and chemically oxidized to produce a granite appearance.

Zinkies were less expensive than traditional monuments. Customers could simply flip through a catalogue to “build” their perfect monument.

Monumental Bronze Company

The Monumental Bronze Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut was the only company to make zinkies. They produced the monuments between the mid-1870s to the start of World War I. At that time, the manufacturing facility was needed to make weapons for the war and could no longer produce monuments. Following the war, the company was never able to revive the zinkie.

To learn more about zinc monuments, check out our video.