Also called Trevi Fountain coin toss, wishing well coin, votive coin offering
Throw a coin into a fountain or well, back turned at the Trevi Fountain in Rome, to wish for a safe return or a dream fulfilled. It continues an ancient habit of giving coins to the spirits of springs.
Tonight's moon is read when the page loads.
Take care: Never wade into or take coins from public fountains; at Trevi it is illegal and fined. Throw gently so you do not hit people or damage the stonework.
Beside Hadrian's Wall at Carrawburgh, soldiers threw offerings into a spring sacred to the goddess Coventina. Its excavation in 1876 recovered over 13,000 Roman coins, plus altars, brooches and pins, spanning Mark Antony to Gratian.
Uses: coins, pins, small brooches
Three American women in Rome toss coins in the Trevi Fountain hoping for love. The film, its Oscar-winning song and the earlier Roman Holiday made the coin toss a must-do for visitors.
Uses: coin
At many British and Irish wells visitors dropped a bent pin rather than a coin, bending it so it could not be used again and so truly belonged to the well. Later the coin took its place.
Uses: straight pin, bent
Romans honoured springs and rivers as sacred and often threw coins and small gifts into them. The Trevi Fountain sits at the end of the Aqua Virgo, an aqueduct first built in 19 BC, and the present fountain was designed by Nicola Salvi and finished in 1762. In Britain, the spring of Coventina at Carrawburgh held more than 13,000 Roman coins when excavated in 1876, and the hot spring at Bath, sacred to Sulis Minerva, has yielded thousands more along with curse tablets.
The Trevi custom of throwing a coin over the shoulder to return to Rome became world-famous after Roman Holiday (1953) and Three Coins in the Fountain (1954). An estimated 3,000 euros are thrown in each day. Since 2001 the city has passed the money to Caritas, the Catholic charity, which uses it to feed and help poor Romans. A 2019 plan to redirect the money was dropped after public outcry.
When you first see the new moon, turn over the coins in your pocket so money will not run short until the next moon. A widespread British and Irish superstition.
Make a wish in the second or two that a meteor streaks across the night sky. The custom is widespread, though its often-quoted ancient origin is shaky.
A spoken charm said over someone setting out, wishing them an easy road, wind at the back and safe return. The familiar English verse is 20th-century, built on the old Irish farewell 'go n-éirí an bóthar leat', 'may you succeed on the road'.
Tell us what you need and we will craft a custom spell, charm or reading for it. Or call to book a reading or a road blessing in person.
