wishing well

[Kas]

Funny story, then the good stuff.

My uncle, long dead, but when alive, lived along a busy State route in Ohio.

As a kid we used to go visit him, (my mom's brother), and he had this wishing well in his front yard with a nice gravel parking lot right close to it. Lots of people would stop and throw money in the well. I did too, every time we went to his house, a nickle penny, whatever little change I had.

Anyway, he died, and we went out to clean out his house. My Dad went out to the well, and pulled on the rope that hung down the well, which I thought was just a rope to make the well look, well, like a well. Nope, up comes a galvanized tub just about as big as the well diameter, full of coins. The well was only about five feet deep, with water colored with blue food coloring to make it look deep. You get the Idea. A money maker for my old uncle.

I would bet to the person that everyone has thrown money in a well somewhere whether it was a wishing well with a sign or just a regular old well.

Don't discount any well as not having coins in it. Many have been filled up, and dried up.
Get a good sized magnet and drop it down the well and see what comes up. Is it wet? Have iron stuck to it? A steel penny maybe?

There are methods for scooping wells out. A posthole digger with a rope on each handle, and a person on each rope is one way. Drop it down with force, pull the handles apart and hold tight while lifting.

The two rope and bucket method didn't work well for me for me. The bottom has to be sandy for this method.

Get a bucket, drill a hole in the middle side and attach a rope through the hole. Tie a rope to the bucket handle and lower into well. The bucket is suppose to lay over on its side and the handle rope can be pulled to scoop. A tough one.

Or digg it up witha machine.

I've collected quit a few coins from old hand dug wells.

Caution: Do not climb down inside of wells.

Before my old Uncle's house was sold, I went back many times to collect the booty from the well. My Dad couldn't figure out why people stopped throwing money in the well.

The old well is still in front of my uncles old house. Well, my house now, with a brand new wishing well sign.

[TheSleeper]

After all those years and with the tub being a lil smaller then the dia of the well, prob some coins that missed the tub laying on the bottom just waiting to be harvested.

[buscadero]

Kas: Your uncle was one smart cookie! I'll bet he made a bit of cash over the years! I've always wondered about those Wishing Wells!

Joe

[Dimeman]

Very neat idea !!! What a cache !!!!!

[Kas]

Yep, drained it dry and scooped out what had slipped around the barrel, and reloaded the water. The thing is just a concrete culvert with wooden well built around it.

Nice thing about that well was all of the good coins that came out of it. Lots of silver over the years. My uncle was a numismatic, and checked all the coins, and found some goodies.

As you know, some people can be, well, not so bright, my Dad said one time. They figured the higher amount coin they put in the well, the more likely their wish was to come true.

Plenty of peace and morgan dollars went plunk in the well. Now we get mostly clad, with a few oldies mixed in from time to time. Better in the summer, of course. Best days might net 5/ 6 bucks in change. We have a fruit and veggie stand/ with drinks now, so that nets a few bucks, too. Can't quit the day job.

But my main thought was about wells, and how people will throw money in them, no matter where they sit.

[moonshine]

man that is such a funny story.

reminds of that scene from that movie "the goonies" when they were in the bottom of the well and there was change laying everywhere.