Do you know what happens to the coins tossed in the Trevi Fountain?

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by Deborah O'Donoghue

Deborah O’Donoghue is a British-Irish writer who has lived in the UK, France and Belgium. She has travelled all over the world and worked in car body repairs, in the best fish ‘n’ chip shop in Brighton, and been a gopher in a comedy club, as well as a teacher. She’s a past winner of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Short Story Prize. Her début novel, Sea of Bones, was published by Legend Press in 2019 and comes out in Germany in 2021. Follow Deborah on Twitter and Instagram.

19 March 2024

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Locking padlocks to bridges, building stone cairns on pathways and even carving names into monuments – there are many ways in which tourists leave something of themselves behind in the places they visit. One of the most famous reminders of this human urge perhaps, is the pile of coins that amasses in Rome’s Trevi Fountain thanks to millions of visitors to the Italian city each year and their belief in good luck.

Good luck

Tossing a coin for good luck into the waters of Rome’s Baroque landmark has been a tradition for hundreds of years – a tradition that was given a new lease of life in the 20^th century after the release of Federico Fellini’s film, La Dolce Vita, and its iconic midnight fountain scene.

Tourists generally believe throwing a coin into the fountain will bring them good fortune or make their wishes come true. But with 21 million visitors a year to Rome, how many coins accumulate and what on earth happens to them?

Tourists throw over €1 million into Italy's Trevi Fountain each year. pic.twitter.com/GVAIfciJSg
— Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) March 24, 2024

Good causes and welfare projects

Signs around the 18^th century fountain say that the money collected goes to charity. That charity is in fact a Catholic organisation called Caritas, charged with distributing the windfall to good causes.

While last year’s bounty has not yet been fully counted, in 2022 the sum thrown into the legendary waters amounted to €1.4 million euros. This was shared out between various welfare projects such as food banks, soup kitchens or community supermarkets, including the local project “Emporium”, where those experiencing financial hardship can shop with tokens.

Long brooms and hairdryers

While the fountain is drained for cleaning twice a month, the coins are retrieved by up to four regional utility workers, twice a week, “as quickly as possible to try to reduce the downtime of the fountain,” according to Francesco Prisco, a manager at utility firm ACEA. The workers stand on the fountains travertine walls and gather the coins using long-reach brooms.

After being arranged into a line, the coins are hoovered up and delivered to Caritas, where they must then be dried – including by hairdryer! Other items are often found among them including false teeth, jewellery, medals and even body parts.

Making wishes come true

It’s not clear whether the majority of tourists pay any attention to what might become of their coin, but some are aware and on board with the charitable outcome of their action.

“I wanted to make a wish which is dear to my heart,” one Brazilian tourist said. “But I also know that this coin is not just staying there but will help needy people. I made a wish but hopefully this money will help other people’s wishes too.”