24-k gold casket: Who says you can’t take it with you?

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This article was published 15/05/2012 (4875 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For those who prefer the finer things in life — and, perhaps, in the afterlife — why not a golden coffin?

People hoping to pimp their funeral might consider Batesville Casket’s $24,000 Promethean, a bronze number with gold plating you may remember from the burial of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

There’s also the $34,500 version from Golden Casket, which the firm says is gilded with 24-karat gold and requires “hundreds of hours of handcraftsmanship.”

In an age when mourners can buy caskets at Costco, the idea of an elaborate send-off into the beyond, a la Egyptian pyramid tombs, is antiquated, say mortuary-science scholars.

Indeed, the average coffin costs only $2,300, and funeral directors say most customers request affordable models. Coffin makers counter that the gold can be functional as well as flashy, noting that the full-gilded versions will hold a loved one’s remains longer than wood or other common materials.

“If it’s something you’re going to spend eternity in, it seems like you might want a real luxury option,” said Edward Balfour, president of Golden Casket.

But while experts say grave robbing is extremely rare these days, we can’t help wondering: Could these precious coffins turn gold diggers into grave diggers?

— MarketWatch