‘Why?’: This Manhole Filled With Coins And Notes In France Has Internet Confused

People often leave coins and money as offerings at shrines and other places of worship. Now a video of one such spot, reportedly shot in Strasbourg, France, is going viral. The video shows a type of metallic fence put over an underground maintenance where there are electrical cords set up. The clip shows a person putting a currency note through the metallic cover. When the camera zooms in inside, the whole floor of the underground spot is covered with notes and coins. The text over the video simply read, “Money grid found in France”.

This video was posted on Instagram by a popular account Unilad on Saturday. So far, it has over 24,000 likes. It is unclear why people were dropping money there. An Instagram user theorised, “Someone accidentally dropped their money down there, and others started to do it.” In the comments, many people jokingly discussed ways of taking money from the underground maintenance area. A user wrote, “Fishing rod with some sticky stuff on the end of the line, job done.”

Another asserted, “Wait until the electrician comes out to do the wiring and finds that finders keepers haha.” People also mentioned that all this cash and coins would have been taken if this place was in their city. Someone commented, “Any town/city in England and that would be robbed within a day.”

An account remarked, “If this was Dublin it would be gone in about ten minutes.” An Instagram user wondered, “People must have too much money to be throwing it away like that. I wonder what that feels like?” One of the most popular comments on the video read, “Surely it’s not classed as stealing if someone just picks it all up?”

However, not all official or unofficial shrines which have money offered around them remain safe from thieves. In December 2022, two people entered a famous charity fountain at Victoria Centre in Nottingham, England, and stole the coins that were thrown in the wish fountain. This broad daylight theft was caught by onlookers on camera.

A spokesperson for Victoria Centre, told the media, “It appears that two individuals climbed into the fountain of the Emett Clock, taking some of the coins that have been thrown in there. For many years, our shoppers have kindly made ‘penny wishes’ at the Emett Clock, with all of the donations received being given to our chosen charities. It is upsetting for everyone to see the blatant disregard that is being shown for the generosity of others and the vital work that charities in our city carry out – particularly so close to Christmas.”