There’s the Trevi Fountain in Italy. Weird that nobody’s mentioned it yet.
You know, when I was in Rome, I saw all sorts of nationalities throwing coins in the Trevi Fountain. Has anyone taken note of that or posted an image reference?
Trevi Fountain is an anagram of “Vitae of Tin Urn,” possibly referring back to the days when the ancient Romans used to recycle tin crematory urns and turn them into coins (the vitae of the urn). People would always throw a few denarii into fountains to honor the dead who gave up their urns.
Just saying.
For some reason, this thread makes the Flintstones theme song run through my mind…
Don’t forget the Trevi fountain.
OK. You had me scratching my head on that one, until I thought of Steve Martin trying to get a group of Greyhound bus travelers to chime in on a round of “Three Coins in the Fountain” and their ensuing response!
That’s the bizarre part. Canada is the same – just about any manmade body of water will get people throwing coins into it unless there’s a sign saying “Don’t throw coins in here, you’re killing our fish”, for instance.
Disney collects the coins from the waters in their parks and donates the money to charity. It is my understanding that coins from “it’s a small world” go to Disney’s Worldwide Wildlife Conservation Fund.
In Lewis and Clark Caverns, MT there’s a natural pool a bit off the trail that’s stained green from years of people throwing pennies in, before they cracked down on it. There’s no practical way to remove the coins, and the water takes an extremely long time to circulate.
I believe people toss them into the Trevi Fountain, which is in Italy, or at the bottom of the Marianas Trench, I forget which.
I lived in Japan for most of the last decade, so I’d nearly forgotten this tradition. Unfortunately, I couldn’t say if that’s because Japanese don’t do it, or because they don’t tend to have fountains. I suspect that if it was a thing, then they would have fountains.
On the other hand, if they were touring Rome and the tour guide said that it’s good luck to throw money into the fountain, I bet they’d do it.
The pleasant superstition is that by doing this, you will ensure your eventual return to the Eternal City. It worked for me the first time, but not the second.
Well, not yet, anyway.
Back in the 80s the local zoo had to close the aboveground view into their seal exhibit due to people throwing coins into the tank, which the seals would eat and sicken from. :mad:
possibly the only ones who throw paper money in fountains. with regardt to coins, everyone does it except desert dwellers.
Nobody expects The Spanish Steps.
Huh, I distinctly recall there being coins in a pool at Kiyomizudera, although those could have just been from all the gaijin. It’s true you don’t see too many fountains though. There’s one in Aomori City which is illuminated at night. I will check to see if it has coins and report back.
I might have to disagree with your last sentence though. At least in my neck of the woods, Japanese people love leaving money at shrines and making wishes and just all-around practicing in minor superstition. I think the reason you don’t see coins in fountains is because, as you said, there just aren’t many fountains. Of course, whether the practice, if it exists, originated in Japan or from abroad is a different story.
Oh, and getting back on topic, I hear there’s also some place in Italy where this is quite common, but I forget the name… Does anyone else remember?
There’s a reference to an obscure fountain in Rome in the following lyrics:
When I see fountains with coins thrown in, or the question asked about it, the answer is usually that the state keeps it to pay part of their upkeep - but this means of course old and impressive fountains in Vienna, Salzburg or Munich, not something in a shopping mall. The second part is that the money collected from the coins isn’t very much because people only toss small coins like copper and brass. They aren’t superstitious enough to waste real money 
For random water, people would know that it might be harmful to nature - you are not supposed to throw anything into natural water!!! - and second, there’s no reason to pay for the upkeep, and third, there’s no superstition connected with it, so no.