The University of Pennsylvania is giving back to its founder Benjamin Franklin. 

One of Franklin’s most famous adages, “A penny saved is a penny earned,” has, over time, compelled thousands of visitors to toss pennies onto his marble grave marker at the Church Christ Burial Ground at 5th & Arch streets for luck. 

“The site of Franklin's grave, just a few hundred yards from the location of the first campus of the University of Pennsylvania, has become a 'must see' for those who visit Philadelphia and Independence National Historical Park,” said Mark Frazier Lloyd, director of the University Archives and Records Center. 

And just like Franklin foretold: over the years, those pennies added up. 

So much so, that the pennies pitted the marble surface and damaged the grave marker, causing a crack. 

While the Christ Church Preservation Trust does not get any government support to keep Franklin's grave marker accessible to the public, it managed to raise $66,000 toward the cost of its restoration before launching a GoFundMe campaign seeking to raise the $10,000 it needed to complete the task. 

Penn stepped up, donating $7,500 to the restoration efforts and within two weeks the GoFundMe campaign had surpassed its goal.

“The University is very proud of its role as one of several Franklin-founded Philadelphia organizations and institutions who are now supporting the Christ Church Preservation Trust in its good work to keep Franklin's grave and its marble marker fully accessible to public view,” said Lloyd. 

In addition to being Penn’s founder, Franklin served as a trustee from 1749 through 1790, the year he died. He was also the president of the Board of Trustees in 1749-1756 and 1789-1790.

Franklin was an innovator, scientist, master printer, journalist, veteran and political leader with a focus on the improvement of the condition of mankind and more, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of Penn today. 

He was instrumental in lighting and paving Philadelphia’s streets and walkways and in creating a police force, fire department and library system, a forefather of Penn’s contemporary community-engagement efforts. 

"Benjamin Franklin would surely marvel at the extraordinary innovation and leadership which characterizes so much of the University's modern West Philadelphia campus,” Lloyd said, “just as we at Penn are so deeply inspired by Franklin's countless examples of public service in 18th-century Philadelphia.”