The modern practice of throwing coins into springs, fountains and wells continues a very ancient tradition, one that has survived until recent times particularly in the form of wishing wells. Especially in those parts of Europe which have a Celtic connection, modern wishing wells continue a legacy known from throughout Europe that is thought to be based on the suggestive nature of deep pools and the therapeutic powers of natural springs. Such was the opinion of Roman thinkers, who recorded that the ancient Celts were renowned for their fascination with springs, rivers and lakes, and for the offering of items for good fortune into watery sites. Many such sites later came to be associated with Christian miracles and saints during the Middle Ages, though, and often any hint of a pre-Christian pedigree in the folklore of these places has long been obscured.

Huge bath and spa complexes dedicated to healing gods were also an enduring feature of Roman life, and although the old Roman custom of bathing and public baths died out in Western Europe at the end of antiquity, healing springs are still patronised in many European countries today, from those with official Christian sanction such as Lourdes, France, to others of a less obviously religious nature. It is also quite common to find offerings in the remains of springs from throughout the ancient world, thermal or otherwise, especially from early Celtic settings. Like the Romans, the ancient Celts obviously felt that many of these springs were holy places; and even the throwing of coins into wells is attested from ancient Celtic and Roman sites. This practice seems to be part of an ageold tradition of depositing all sorts of items into holy wells, springs, ponds, bogs, rivers and lakes. The offerings cast into such ancient sites also have a technical description – they are called votives or ex voto (literally, things that have been ‘vowed’ to the gods) – and sometimes we can even tell specifically why they were deposited as, occasionally, they are also inscribed.

In 1968 such a site was uncovered by French archaeologists at a spring known as Les Roches (‘the rocks’), which is near modern Chamalières, a satellite town of Clermont-Ferrand.