What happens to the coins tossed into Rome’s Trevi Fountain?


As visitors’ coins splash into Rome’s majestic Trevi Fountain carrying wishes for love, good health or a return to the Eternal City, they provide practical help to people the tourists will never meet.

For hundreds of years, when in Rome, visitors have flocked to the fountain to make a wish, following a storied ritual. Few gave their coins a second thought.

Today, coins pile up for several days before they are fished out and taken to the Rome division of the worldwide Catholic charity Caritas, which counts the bucketfuls of change and uses them to fund a food bank, soup kitchen and welfare projects.

In 2022 Caritas collected 1.4 million euros ($1.52 million) from the fountain and it expects to have gathered even more in 2023. Rome is one of the world’s most visited cities with 21 million tourists.

A broom is used to gather coins to be collected at the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

A broom is used to gather coins to be collected at the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Extracting the coins is a spectacle and involves workers from regional utility ACEA balancing on the edge of the vast Baroque fountain, using long brooms and suction hoses.

The coins are then given to Caritas, where they are dried with hairdryers and cutlery dryers and sorted and counted.

Signs around the fountain explain that the change will go to charity - a thought that pleases many of the tourists posing by the landmark.

“I wanted to make a wish which is dear to my heart,” said Yula Cole from Brazil after throwing in a coin. “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.”

Tourists throw coins into the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Day and night, throngs of people crowd around the fountain posing for photos. Legend says that if you throw a coin by the right hand over the left shoulder into the fountain, you will return to Rome. People eagerly add their own personal wishes.

“I am tossing a coin as they say if you toss a coin you come back to Rome and also because I want to make the wish to find love,” said Carola from Chile.

Alexio Cola, a worker at the ACEA utility company, uses a broom to gather coins to be collected at the emptied Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Alexio Cola, a worker at the ACEA utility company, uses a broom to gather coins to be collected at the emptied Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Cola and Claudio Cubeta, workers for the ACEA utility company, collect coins at the emptied Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Cola and Claudio Cubeta, workers for the ACEA utility company, collect coins at the emptied Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

The Trevi Fountain, completed in 1762, covers one side of Palazzo Poli in central Rome with its statues of Tritons guiding the shell chariot of the god Oceanus, illustrating the theme of the taming of the waters.

It is where Italian film director Federico Fellini set one of the most famous scenes in cinema in “La Dolce Vita”, with Anita Ekberg wading into the fountain after midnight and beckoning Marcello Mastroianni to join her.

Wading into its waters today is forbidden and tourists face fines if they do.

Coins are pictured after having been collected from the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Coins are pictured after having been collected from the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Caritas volunteers Enrico Chiolini, 63, and Claudio Ardizzone carry bags containing coins collected from the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Caritas volunteers Enrico Chiolini, 63, and Claudio Ardizzone carry bags containing coins collected from the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Chiolini carries bags containing coins collected at the Trevi Fountain as he arrives at the Caritas office in Rome, Italy, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Chiolini carries bags containing coins collected at the Trevi Fountain as he arrives at the Caritas office in Rome, Italy, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Coin sorting

Twice a week, up to four workers collect the coins, said Francesco Prisco, a manager at ACEA. The fountain is drained for cleaning twice a month.

“The collection and cleaning operations are carried out as quickly as possible to try to reduce the downtime of the fountain,” he said.

After the coins have been swept into a long line by a long-reach broom, they are sucked up by hoses and taken to Caritas’ office, where employee Fabrizio Marchioni spreads them across a huge table for drying.

Stains left by collected coins are seen at the emptied Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Stains left by collected coins are seen at the emptied Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Not just coins are fished from the fountain. Workers have removed jewellery, dentures, religious medals, even umbilical cords.

Signs by the fountain warn not to steal the coins.

Over the decades the coins have been targeted, sometimes with magnets attached to a pole.

Caritas employee Fabrizio Marchioni, 52, dries coins collected at the Trevi Fountain, at the Caritas office in Rome, Italy, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Caritas employee Fabrizio Marchioni, 52, dries coins collected at the Trevi Fountain, at the Caritas office in Rome, Italy, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Close to Rome’s main station is Caritas’ supermarket, known as the Emporium, which allocates food to needy residents who can purchase it with tokens on a card.

“I was a blacksmith but then I lost my position and my arthritis does not help in finding a new job. Luckily there are places like this Emporium,” said a man who gave his name only as Domenico.

Domenico, 57, shops at Caritas Emporium in Rome, Italy, February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Domenico, 57, shops at Caritas Emporium in Rome, Italy, February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

A shopping trolley is filled with food products at Caritas Emporium in Rome, Italy, February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

A shopping trolley is filled with food products at Caritas Emporium in Rome, Italy, February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Another man, Luigi, explained: “I was a builder and also the owner of a video surveillance system company before I lost my job. Places like this Emporium give concrete help.”

Back at the fountain, the coins stack up.

“I got told that if I toss in two coins my wishes will come true. So that’s why I did it,” said Chinese tourist Yuting.

Daniele Rapiti, a worker at the ACEA utility company, uses a broom to gather coins to be collected at the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Daniele Rapiti, a worker at the ACEA utility company, uses a broom to gather coins to be collected at the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Chiolini unloads a bucket with coins collected at the Trevi Fountain, at the Caritas office in Rome, Italy, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Chiolini unloads a bucket with coins collected at the Trevi Fountain, at the Caritas office in Rome, Italy, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Coins collected from the Trevi Fountain are counted by a money counter at the Caritas office in Rome, Italy, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Coins collected from the Trevi Fountain are counted by a money counter at the Caritas office in Rome, Italy, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Marchioni carries a bucket containing coins collected at the Trevi Fountain at the Caritas office in Rome, Italy, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Marchioni carries a bucket containing coins collected at the Trevi Fountain at the Caritas office in Rome, Italy, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Coins collected at the Trevi Fountain land inside buckets after having been counted by a money counter at the Caritas office in Rome, Italy, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Coins collected at the Trevi Fountain land inside buckets after having been counted by a money counter at the Caritas office in Rome, Italy, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Marchioni uses a hairdryer to dry coins collected at the Trevi Fountain, at the Caritas office in Rome, Italy, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Marchioni uses a hairdryer to dry coins collected at the Trevi Fountain, at the Caritas office in Rome, Italy, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Items collected alongside the coins at the Trevi Fountain are pictured at the Caritas office in Rome, Italy, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Items collected alongside the coins at the Trevi Fountain are pictured at the Caritas office in Rome, Italy, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Caritas volunteer Simonetta Lanzi cuts cheese at Caritas Emporium in Rome, Italy, February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Caritas volunteer Simonetta Lanzi cuts cheese at Caritas Emporium in Rome, Italy, February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Loaves of bread worth 0.50 points are displayed at Caritas Emporium, where people with low incomes can buy essential goods using points instead of money, in Rome, Italy, February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Loaves of bread worth 0.50 points are displayed at Caritas Emporium, where people with low incomes can buy essential goods using points instead of money, in Rome, Italy, February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Luigi, 55, who before losing his job was a builder and owner of a video surveillance system company, shops at Caritas Emporium in Rome, Italy, February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Luigi, 55, who before losing his job was a builder and owner of a video surveillance system company, shops at Caritas Emporium in Rome, Italy, February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Volunteer Antonella Rota works at Caritas Emporium in Rome, Italy, February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Volunteer Antonella Rota works at Caritas Emporium in Rome, Italy, February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Luigi leaves after shopping at Caritas Emporium in Rome, Italy, February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Luigi leaves after shopping at Caritas Emporium in Rome, Italy, February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane