When do traditions begin? When I replied to a thread smullen has open it made me do a little more reading on the subject. I think this is interesting trivia that I knew/know very little about. Coins may have been used as far back as 600BC as offerings of good luck. Here are a couple links as examples: http://collegiateway.org/news/2006-foundation-deposits http://www.thenewportship.com/research/fr_coin.htm Excerpts from the articles: One day about 600 BC, the people of the Greek city of Ephesus gathered around a big pit in the ground. Someone important (we don't know who exactly) scattered a group of coins across the bottom of the pit, and then teams of workmen lowered several enormous stone slabs over them. These slabs were the central floor stones of what was to become the Artemision—the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus—known to later ages as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. There is a centuries-old tradition of placing coins under the mast during ship construction, and a few parallels for coins between keel and stempost. The coin has been identified by Edward Besly of the Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales - as a petit blanc of the Dauphin, Louis de France. Minted in the town of Crémieu between 1440 - 1456, it comes from Dauphiné, an area of south eastern France, traditionally held by the Dauphin, the eldest son of the king of France. Louis of France succeeded to the Throne of France in 1461, as Louis XI, and reigned until 1483. This type of coin was in general circulation throughout fifteenth century France. The dolphin, the symbol of the Dauphin, is found on both sides. It seems that wishing wells and coin water offerings to the gods for good luck dates back to at least the times of the Romans. Hope you found this interesting.
Good trivia...and Scottish communion tokens were given to bless the newly baptized with "good luck"... Clinker
As far back as I can remember people have always thrown a penny (cent for those sensitive) on the bottom of a place where concrete was about to be poured. Under all my walkways around my house there are coins I too put there prior to the slabs being poured. In the downtown area of Chicago, a major reconstruction of a major street in the downtown area was recently done in 2002 & 2003. And many of the construction workers, field engineers, contractors and even passerbys threw coins into places where concrete was being poured on all three levels of that street. I've seen this practice done for many, many years. During the original demolition of that multilever street construction workers were coming up with piles of old coins, bottles, knives and other strange items. Coin were all corroded beyond usefullness. Similar to that is one of my neighbors that is in construction and tells me his fellow workers only trow beer bottle tops on the bottom of such concrete pours. To cheap and don't follow myths I guess. Now I wonder if those people back in BC 600 knew what they were starting. (It is proper to place the BC prior to the date and AD after a date) Could this have been the start of the time capsules being placed in many building foundations? I wonder if this coins in the concrete originated from that type of historic fact. Actually a lady I knew threw some of her jewlery on the bottom of an about to be poured concrete patio. Only she said she did it so that someday in the far, far future people would know what kind of stuff she liked. She was a little strange I think.
In a book a few years ago i was reading it said that when they built a new house they would put a silver dollar under the front door framing in concrete to have good luck,this was i believe in the early to mid 1800s,as someone who uses a metal detector when i find an old house that has falled down i always check there but never found any as yet.
Sweet, I helped spawn an idea about coins!!!!! Good post BTW.... I remember growing up the malls all used to have huge fountains that we tossed pennies or other coins in for good luck...
Ah, yes, the old Wishing Well. And what about those Scottish communion tokens? They were used as a good luck offering for the newly baptized. Clinker
Thank you smullen. My son loves this tradition and I am sure his little sister will soon join him. It seems like in the early 70s when I was younger, the older generations talked more of traditions like these. I do not hear as much of it any more even from the older folks I talk with. With the way our society has evolved with the extended family spreading out, maybe we are losing some of those tales and traditions I grew up with. Next time I see a slab being pored I will be sure to add a nice coin for good luck...
Thanks Clinker, I'm glad I could add a little trivia for a change. It seems like the Wishing Well has a bit of a jaded past but evolved into a civilized and pleasant tradition. Darryl
I have a bit to add as well. From "Collecting Lucky Coins, Tokens, and Medals", by Rita Law, Ph.D. When a child makes a wish and tosses a coin into a fountain, it is the continuation of a custom that has linked coins and good luck since ancient times. The ancient Greeks did the same thing, but their intent was to make an offering to the gods. In return for the money, it was hoped that the water would make and keep them healthy. This custom is so strong even now that the smallest public fountain is likely to have a sprinkling of pocket change shimmering on the bottom. The first half of the 20th century was the heyday of american Lucky pocket piece production, but lucky coins have been around much longer. In fact, coins have always been associated with religious belief and superstition. The oldest lucky coins in Western civilization derived their luck through the consecrated monarchy or through religious symbolism. In the 15th century, British monarchs used "Angel coins" to encourage instant cures. They waved them over the part of the subject's body that was broken or sick. One hundred years earlier, the "touch coin" developed in France and England. A touch piece was an ordinary legal tender coin that had reportedly been handled by the monarch whose visage graced the obverse side. After the king or queen gave this coin to a subject, it was pierced and worn about the neck as both a lucky talisman and a symbol of prestige. The good fortune that supposedly flowed from a touch piece was quite specific. It was thought that certain diseases, such as scrofula, a type of tuberculosis, would be cured by wearing one. Touch coins were popular for so long, they are surprisingly affordable today. They are usually well worn and, of course, holed. It is easy to imagine past owners rubbing small silver fourpence coins hung around their necks, hoping for improved health. Touch pieces not only cemented the link between good fortune and coinage, they launched an industry. The practice of "wearing the king" eventually evolved into a fashion item called coin jewelry that remains popular to this day. In Victorian times, silver coins were brightly enameled and/or gold plated. Later, they were carved into love token charms. Today, lucky coins and medals of gold, silver, and base metals can be found in rings and on bracelets, necklaces, key rings and broaches. It was not a huge leap to move from a belief in the curative powers of a touch coin to a belief in a specific coin's predictive powers. This is what happened in 1658 when the very unlucky Cromwell Crown was struck in England. Following the English Civil Wars (1642-51), Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) was lord protector of England beginning in 1653 and ending in 1658, when he died of natural causes. As a king-substitute, his bust became the obverse design of a crown made the year before he died. The die producing this large coin soon developed a crack (die break) that created a raised line of metal in each coin. This line ominously ran horizontally across his neck. Many people believed this fortold Cromwell's imminent beheading, and strangely, they were correct. After Charles II took back the throne in 1660 and eradicated the Commonwealth (a republic that temporarily replaced the monarchy), Cromwell's body was exhumed from Westminster Abbey, hung from a gallows, and then ceremoniously and publicly beheaded. The head was placed atop a tall pole at Westminster Hall, where it remained for many years. It reappeared in the 1770s and passed from one owner to another until the 1930s. It was X-rayed at that time, and the film clearly showed part of the stake embedded in the skull. In 1960 the head of Cromwell was given to Sidney Sussex College at Cambridge University, where it was laid to rest after three centuries. Gold is often considered the luckiest metal of all from which to fashion coins. Even now, many of the wealthy keep a lucky gold coin handy. The gold ducats made at the Kremnitz, Hungary Mint from 1600 to 1800 were considered particularly adept at deflecting ill fortune. One side featured St. George slaying the dragon and the other, Christ asleep in a boat with his apostles during a storm. Translated, the legends read, "St. George, Patron of the Knights" and "Safety in the Storm". Many soldiers and sailors have felt far more comfortable going into battle or sailing the sea with one of these in their pockets. There are lucky coin "rules". They may vary depending upon where you live, but in the U.S. you have probably heard the following: - Pick up a penny you find in the parking lot, but only if the coin is "heads up". - Toss a coin into every fountain or small pond you encounter and make a wish. - Keep coins that are bent, as they are especially lucky. - Keep coins with significant dates on them, such as your anniversary, birthday, or the birthdays of your children. - Keep the first coin you ever earned. - Never spend the very last coin in your pocket. Probably the single most famous American lucky coin would be the 1860 double eagle from the H.L. Hunley, a submarine invented by the Confederates. When the Hunley was raised from the bottom of the ocean near South Carolina in August, 2000, researchers found a bent and dented gold coin that had been a legend for more than a century. It was the Dixon love token. Captain George E. Dixon received the large gold coin from his sweetheart, Queen "Queenie" Bennett, of Mobile, Alabama, when he joined the Confederate Army. At the battle of Shiloh, the coin in his pocket deflected a bullet and probably saved his life. Dixon had one side buffed smooth and engraved with three lines and his initials: Shiloh April 6, 1862 My Life Preserver G.E.D. Bennett's descendents found very similar engraving, an ornate cursive script that was probably created by the same person, in the back of her gold pocket watch. Her name was accompanied by the date December 25, 1862. Queenie's watch contained a small photo, too, which is probably Dixon. The man in the photo is dark haired, handsome, and well groomed. His face wears a serious expression and a carefully manicured mustache. December 25, 1862 was the last Christmas Bennett and Dixon spent together. The following year, Dixon was in South Carolina working on the submarine project. Dixon carried his lucky pocket piece with him until February, 1864, when he and his entire crew perished during a practice dive. This occured only hours after the 40 foot Hunley went under the waves in Charleston harbor to attack a Union blockade vessel, the 200 foot USS Housatonic. The Housatonic sank, the first victim of a submarine attack in history (a feat I do not believe even repeated during the whole of WW I), and Dixon's luck appears to have sunk with the Union ship. The lucky gold Coronet head $20 Dixon-Hunley coin resides at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in Charleston, where the public can view it on weekends. Because of its fame and history, estimates of its value run into the millions of dollars. Hopefully I have not bored the readers who have endured until the end. I have found this book to be very enjoyable and informative reading, and wished to share but a small portion of it with you. There is much more, and I would recommend it to any who may have interest in this topic.
The Irish Sixpence was commonly used as a good luck coin. The Ancient Greeks had a curious religious custom by which they placed a silver Obol in the mouth of a corpse.According to the legend,this was to pay Charon the ferryman to cross the River Styx to get to the Elysian Fields (the Ancient Greek version of Heaven). Aidan.
As for the parking lot penny, I have always heard..."See a penny, pick it up, and all the day you'll have good luck" As for the last coin in your pocket..."NEVER spend the last coin! Break a bill if you have to!" I have an old wheatie Lincoln (1912) in almost AG condition that I found as a small kid way back in the 60s. I stapled it into a 2x2, then cut the cardboard down to a 1 and 1/8 X 1 and 1/8. I then taped all the edges closed to seal it. I still carry this one in my wallet. Nearly 40yrs now!
