- [Julian] This video is brought to you by a Squarespace.
(bright music)
This is the Fountain of Wealth in Singapore
and it was built in the 1990s
and named by Guinness World Record
as the world's largest fountain.
And like many fountains around the world,
it's become a place where people throw coins
to get good luck.
And that got me thinking,
who owns the coins that are thrown into fountains?
Can you get in trouble if you take them out?
In this video, we're gonna find out.
The act of throwing coins into wells or fountains isn't new,
and actually takes back to ancient times.
Historically people thought that water came from the gods,
So there'd often be shrines put nearby
and people would make some kind of offering.
In Norse mythology there's Mimir's Well,
and people would make some kind of donation
of something valuable to drink from it.
And this is a tradition and ritual
which is spread around the world.
(bright music)
This particular fountain is part of Suntec City,
which is a major development here in Singapore.
And it's a place which hosts restaurants,
entertainment, retail, and more,
and the design's quite interesting.
There are four buildings which represent a hand,
they being the fingers, and a fifth one being a thumb,
and the palm of the hand is actually this fountain.
This upper bit is turned off a couple of times a day
so people can head inside.
The tradition goes that
if you do three laps with your hand in the middle,
you'll get good luck.
But this is just one fountain,
let's take a tour of fountains around the world,
and see what happens if you take coins out,
and how much they're worth.
(bright music)
So I'm back in Melbourne
outside the national gallery of Victoria,
and this fountain in this moat
is a place where coins absolutely do end up.
So the question is, is it illegal to take these coins?
In this case the answer is yes.
Back in 2014, someone was arrested
for taking coins out of the fountain,
and the following day they were back
in flippers, snorkel and a mask, and arrested again.
And this time the bail conditions include the requirement
not to enter this moat at all.
Now another arrest was made in 2020
by someone who also came prepared,
wetsuit, flippers, and a snorkel.
And in researching this,
it does look like the city of Melbourne has restrictions.
Cause unless you have permit,
you cannot deposit, throw, or otherwise place
anything on, or into anybody of water
that is not a swimming pool, including a fountain.
And around the world there are a lot of articles
of people being arrested for taking coins from fountains.
People have been investigated by police, or arrested
in Canada, in Italy, in the UK and in the USA.
Now it's not as high stakes as Hollywood films,
but just outside of Melbourne
there was a wishing well fountain heist.
- [News Reporter] It's a story that could have been penned
by the Brothers Grimm.
Thieves stealing money from a children's wishing well,
in a town called Anarchy.
- The total amount they got away with isn't exactly known,
but it's guessed to be somewhere between $5,000 and $30,000.
The most lucrative fountain in the world
is surely this one in Rome.
And the tradition is,
is that you throw a coin over your shoulder
and you'll come back to Rome,
throw two and you'll fall in love,
and throw three and it will end in a wedding.
♪ Three coins in the fountain ♪
- [Julian] Now this has made it's mark in pop culture,
appearing in movies and TV shows,
and even politicians have gotten in on the action.
So with thousands of euros ending up in the fountain,
it's no real surprise that
some people wanted in on the action.
And in this case it was a local man, Roberto Cercelletta.
And he spent over 30 years fishing coins
out of the fountain,
going in up to six nights a week,
and making as much as a thousand dollars in a day.
Now he used a rake, he scooped with his own hands,
he also had a magnetic device
that would help scoop the coins.
Now this became less effective
with the introduction of Euro coins.
And he avoided rest for years and years and years,
with police seemingly turning a blind eye
before finally being arrested in 2002.
(chill music)
Now the value of coins that get collected
can vary significantly,
and it's not something where the data's particularly good.
But there have been a couple of articles which talk
about how much they can receive in a year.
The Mall of America in Minnesota, $24,000.
The Bellagio fountain in Las Vegas, around $12,000.
Disney world, $18,000.
And the 9/11 Memorial, where it's both
against the rules and not wanted at all,
they've received around $2,735.
But by far, the absolute standout
is the Trevi Fountain in Rome,
coming in at $1.7 million.
Now I'll talk more about that in a second.
Generally, the bigger the fountain,
the more potential money it can make.
I mentioned that this previously held
the Guinness World Record as the world's biggest.
Well, it doesn't hold that record anymore,
and I'll give you one guess about where does.
(chill techno music)
Yes it's Dubai, with the Palm Fountain.
And this is over 7,000 square meters,
and could shoot up to a hundred meters in the air.
So collecting coins outta this would be no easy task,
and it makes this fountain look quite quaint.
So now we know how much this could be worth,
who owns the coins that are left in fountains?
Now I'm not the only one who's interested in the question
about where these bouncing coins end up.
In fact, this is a question that's gone
to the highest level of government.
In my research I came across this exchange,
and then contacted the parliament house of Australia,
who sent across this video.
Now this is from Senate estimates,
which is a chance where senators
can ask people working for the government.
- But what happens to the money that...
the coins that are thrown into the fountains
here in parliament house?
- [Julian] And after a bit of back and forth,
they got their answer.
- Senator, I think it goes into our general revenue.
- [Julian] Which was that it goes to consolidated revenue,
that is general government funds.
Now this interaction made some news,
and a new policy existed
next time they came back to Senate estimates,
and that was that the funds would now go to charity.
In this case, UNICEF.
- Seemed to be a happy story,
I think you'd agree wouldn't you Miss Penfold,
that had a happy ending, would that be right?
- And that's for the Trevi Fountain,
this has become an issue.
Historically these coins were sent to charity,
but in 2014 the Mayor of Rome indicated
that they should be used for government services.
City led, social solidarity, and assistance projects
and other council initiatives.
Now after a few weeks of this being in the press,
the decision was reversed,
and the funds continue to go to Caritas Rome,
which is a church run charity that does
housing, soup kitchens, and other local family services.
In the parks of New York,
most of the money is taken out by locals to be honest,
there's not much left.
That that is left is used for park's maintenance.
In the mall of America, coins go to charity,
with different not for profits
being able to apply to get a cut.
In Disneyland, the funds go to support foster children
locally within the state.
But it's not all good news,
a green sea turtle by the name of Piggybank,
had to undergo an operation by vets in Thailand.
Now this seven hour operation
removed 915 coins from her stomach.
And sadly the 25 year old, 59 kilo turtle
died not long after the surgery.
So what happens to the coins
that are left behind in the NGV here?
Well as you can imagine,
it's a big job to clean out this moat,
and in doing so, they found hundreds of kilos of coins
amongst all the mud and sentiment.
And in this case, the coins are used donations for the NGV,
and they use the money to acquire new artwork.
So unless a place is designed to receive coins,
like a wishing well,
it might just be better to take your coins
and donate them to charities directly.
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(chill music)
And that's what happens to your money
when you throw it in the fountain.
I'm Julian O'Shea, if enjoyed that,
subscribe or watch some more videos.
That's it from me.
The most lucrative fountain in the world is here in Rome,
not here.