Memento Mori Medallion

Daily Stoic is excited to share the Memento Mori medallion. These coins are designed with the intention of carrying them in your pocket, a literal and inescapable reminder that “you could leave life right now.” In Meditations, Marcus Aurelius wrote “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.” That was a personal reminder to continue living a life of virtue NOW, and not wait. The French painter Philippe de Champaigne expressed a similar sentiment in his painting "Still Life with a Skull," which showed the three essentials of existence: the tulip (life), the skull (death), and the hourglass (time). The original painting is part of a genre referred to as Vanitas, a form of 17th century artwork featuring symbols of mortality which encourage reflection on the meaning and fleetingness of life. Each coin is handcrafted in the United States by a custom mint operating in Minnesota since 1882—the same mint where the iconic AA anniversary medallions were cre