Is there a special presidential casket to be used at presidential funerals in the US?

Answer 1

No. The familes involved choose their own caskets.

Addition to the answer:

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There is indeed no official "presidential casket", but there is one casket design which was chosen for the burial of several American presidents (Kennedy, Ford, Nixon and probably also for Hoover). For this reason, that model became something like an inoffical "presidential casket". It was the Marsellus # 710 mahogany casket manufactured by the famous Marsellus Casket Company of Syracuse, NY. This hardwood casket manufacturer had acquired the reputation of following extraordinarily high manufacturing standards in the production of its luxury caskets, involving a high percentage of hand-crafting by expert craftsmen. The company accepted for example only 20% of the wood as meeting the "select grade" standard for ribbon-grained mahogany. All casket parts of their top of the line mahogany designs were assembled with copper nails and brass screws. Although the "Seven Ten" was a plain and unpretentious looking design of timeless simplicity, representing the understatement style of the Eastern elite, it was nevertheless an expensive luxury casket made from solid 1-1/4" and 2-1/2" planks of African mahogany coming from trees which were approximately 500 years old. The casket had heavily rounded corners and all wooden swing bar handles with bronze tips and lugs. Marsellus claimed that the amount of mahogany used in each of its 710 models was about 140 board feet - an equivalent of almost 3.700 square feet of veneer, enough for some 200 dining tables. The finishing process took about three weeks and consisted of a dozen different operations which included the application of half a dozen layers of sealer and lacquer as well as half a day of hand-rubbing, if a high gloss finish had been ordered. The empty weight of the 710 was 260 lbs; with an inner bronze liner with a full oval glass lid it almost doubled. Other Marsellus casket designs were chosen for the burial of President Truman (the urn shaped model 720 "Provincial") and for President Reagan (the # 700 "Masterpiece", the company's most expensive design).

Since the closing of the Marsellus factory in 2003 the "Seven Ten" has been manufactured by the Batesville Casket Company under the name (Marsellus) "President". In 2014, its manufacturer's suggested retail price is $ 13,000 (without a carved lid), but online retailers offer the casket aready at prices starting at "just" $ 6,000.