Here is an older marble monument with lead lettering. Marble is a soft porous stone so the fashion was to beat lead into the engraved lettering to enable the wording to be read. The lead is keyed by little holes drilled into each letter. Depending on the skill of the lettercutter and the climate where the monument is located, in time moss and lichen can grow and push the lead out. This monument’s main problem was the concrete surround so this was removed and the headstone cleaned and mounted on a new concrete foundation. The balance of the plot sown in lawn which the cemetery authority will mow in perpetuity.