Coins‘ association with luck have a long tradition: from throwing coins into the Trevi fountain in Rome, to the Irish keeping loose pennies in their pockets for luck to some Americans believing that silver dollars bring luck because they are rarer and worth more than other coins. In Chinese culture, a lucky coin is held by the lucky money toad named Ch’an Chu. In many homes, Ch’an Chu sits on a side table or bookshelf, holding a small gold coin in his mouth. Ch’an Chu and his coins are thought to bring wealth and protect one from financial disasters.
The Chinese are well known for their superstitious nature, which also includes throwing coins for good luck, although in one instance in February of last year, this landed one first time flyer with a rather unlucky big bill. When boarding his Lucky Air flight, he threw coins at the aircraft’s engine for good luck, to the displeasure of the airline staff who had to in-depth check the engines for obvious safety reasons and the inconvenience of his fellow passengers who needed to be put-up in hotels and rebooked onto later flights. A court subsequently ruled that he should compensate the airline to the tune of 120’000 yuan (approx. £13’000). And apparently there have been more such incidents in China in recent years.
Which goes to show two things in my opinion: Tossing coins has nothing to do with luck – and possibly quite the opposite, and for all their ambitions on the world stage, the Chinese remain steeped in old fashioned myths, at least some of which, as shown in this example, are definitely untrue. So it’s maybe best not to throw anything at anyone (or anything for that matter), irrespective of whether you’re Chinese or not.
The grumpy older man 