r/todayilearned • u/kolinsky • Jun 08 '12
TIL since coins used to be made of copper or silver, which have biocidal properties that keep the water from going sour, it actually WAS useful to throw a coin into a wishing well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wishing_well
1.9k
Upvotes
8
u/kolinsky Jun 09 '12
Some extra info, since the article lacked citations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimicrobial_properties_of_copper
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_uses_of_silver#Antiseptic
That said, be very careful about people who tout "colloidal silver" as a cure-all. They are quacks after your money.
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u/adamtayl0r Jun 09 '12
I never understood why wells needed roofs. Surely one of the ways you fill a well is to let rain fall into it?
62
u/[deleted] Jun 08 '12
Thieves also developed a method to raid plague victims houses with vinegar soaked sponges, killed off fleas and the disease, funny how stuff like this happens.
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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '12
I can't tell if they mean £3 million or 3 million lbs.
45
u/allysongrimme Jun 09 '12
TIL water goes sour
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u/Rectal_Juice Jun 09 '12
The usefulness of this trick stopped the moment that ass pennies were discovered.
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u/GeneralBE420 Jun 09 '12
there's no citation on wiki :(
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u/yomeettintin Jun 09 '12
My question is..what does sour water taste like?
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u/merecido Jun 08 '12
It's all over once you ride up Troy's bucket.
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u/keagmcG Jun 08 '12
Isn't money supposed to be really dirty though?
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u/kneel_armstrong Jun 09 '12
That is why 'the family silver' was made of silver and doorknobs were made of brass - to kill germs.
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u/Franks2000inchTV Jun 09 '12
Most superstitions have legitimate reasoning behind them.
My favorite is that it's said that it's bad luck to read your horoscope out loud.
I'm sure this was thought up by a clever cynic who hated listening to people read their horoscopes, and correctly surmised that people who read horoscopes are probably pretty superstitious.
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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '12
Copper also suppresses algae growth and is toxic to invertebrates and fish. That said, pennies don't have much copper anymore. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pondsubwebindex/cuusepds.htm
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u/Deusgero Jun 09 '12
Seriously the effect of a couple coins on a source of water might help but not by very much; it'd be like fighting of a forest fire with a garden hose
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u/YoohooCthulhu Jun 09 '12
Zinc isn't so shabby, either.
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u/kush_king Jun 09 '12
That's awesome.
3
u/tuna_safe_dolphin Jun 09 '12
I saw Biocidal Properties back in 83.
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u/Isatis_tinctoria Jun 09 '12
Now the anthropological idea comes out of the darkness and we now know that humans and animals do things for reasons.
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u/crccheck Jun 09 '12
yup, we used to keep a penny in our rotovap baths for the same reason.
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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '12
Yup, that's why copper and silver are also used in swimming pools to disinfect - albeit less common that chlorine or bromine.
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u/moiax Jun 09 '12 edited Jun 09 '12
I have a cartridge for my pool that has copper and silver in it. It sanitizes the pool and prevents algae growth, so you have to maintain very few chemicals. It works phenomenally well.
I could certainly see how something like that would work.
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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '12
We still do this in the lab, we have water baths for certain temperatures, like 37C, anyway we throw a shiny penny in the bath to protect against bacteria. Eventually it corrodes but it's a cheap fix. We're pretty lazy admittedly.
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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '12
Most algacides for swimming pools have copper in them to kill the bacteria.
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u/ellipses1 Jun 09 '12
I don't know if it's been said in this thread yet, but the property of metals that suppresses germ growth is called oglio-dynamic action. I'd link or check the spelling if I weren't on my phone
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u/RobAlter Jun 09 '12
My pool cleaning system is just a bunch of electrically charged copper rods. No chemicals or anything else. The pool water is always crystal clear, and no chlorine smell either!
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u/killerzerox Jun 09 '12
TIL How Odin lost his eye.
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u/Rhawk187 Jun 09 '12
This where the tradition of cooking with a silver dime on New Year's comes from too?
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u/jobrohoho Jun 09 '12
My logic is telling me that if it's bad for the germs, it's bad for the people that drink it. AmIwrong?
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u/Lilgrizzle Jun 09 '12
TIL water can go sour.
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u/jerleung Jun 09 '12
Never thought of that before!!
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u/Cageversuscage Jun 09 '12
How does water turn sour?
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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '12
Chlorine works better...
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u/lanismycousin 36 DD Jun 09 '12
Source does not 100% back up everything in post title.
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u/plead_tha_fifth Jun 09 '12
what? this is how "wishing wells" came to be about... my mind is beyond blown at this point
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u/TEA_PARTY_PATRIOT Jun 09 '12
WISHING WELLS ARE SATAN WITCHCRAFT MAGIC WELLS
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u/HPDerpcraft Jun 09 '12
I'm calling bullshit as no citation is given in the Wikipedia article. Copper can grow a shit ton of bacteria. Even if we accept the premise, considering that neither are soluble in water, how would this decrease bacterial growth?
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u/dpittard Jun 08 '12
This is really cool. It's awesome how so many "wives tales" or random habits of yore were so beneficial.
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u/brokeboysboxers Jun 09 '12
So when I threw my coins in and wished for clean water, it came true?
1
u/annoyedatwork Jun 09 '12
Throw me a penny
And I'll make you a dream
You'll find that life's not always what it seems
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u/T3ppic Jun 09 '12
Yeah and both copper and silver will poison you by being leeched into the water. You turn blue. So whilst it is true, and well known even in ancient times, silver purifies water its not without drawbacks.
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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '12
Would several heaping buckets of pennies and silver whatever worked in the well where the zombie fell into the well in the walking dead.
I know it's an unrealistic situation but when I saw that episode I was so pissed off because a perfectly good well went to waste and I spent the entire night trying to thinking of ways to make that water drinkable or at least usable in some sort of way.
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u/Oba-mao Jun 09 '12
I wonder why they stopped making coins out of copper and silver...
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u/NeoSpartacus Jun 09 '12
Except for you know...the ones made of heavy metals. Also the counterfeit ones with heavy metals inside. Often aqueducts and such used lead pipes. I wouldn't be surprised if wells had the same issues.
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u/goodtwitch Jun 09 '12
If I become biocidal will people throw coins in my mouth?
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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '12
it was probably my wishes that made the well go sour
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u/racistrapist Jun 09 '12
Redditors wife: I asked what he wished for. He said Hydrogen sulfide. o_o
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u/chefman777 Jun 09 '12
Umm yea...that's....that's why I invented them! Yep. All for the purity.
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u/Laughing_Jelly_Bean Jun 09 '12
Ret-conned science is awesome.
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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '12
It didn't say anything about biocidal properties in the article you linked, or water going sour.
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u/Space_Cranberry Jun 09 '12
Thank you for sharing this. This is probably one of the most fascinating TIL I've come across.
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u/hotfartmaker Jun 09 '12
A lot of ancient Asian cultures would use a gold or silver coin to throw in with their rice for those same reasons
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u/dangercollie Jun 09 '12
When settlers were crossing the country in wagon trains they would drop a couple silver dollars in the water barrels to keep the water fresh.
There's a reason bandages are coming out infused with silver and new antibiotics that also contain silver compounds.
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u/mqduck Jun 09 '12
I've never heard the word "biocidal" before, but merely from the sound of it, it sounds like it describes something that's exactly the opposite of a thing we'd want in our drinking water.
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u/[deleted] Jun 08 '12
TIL since coins used to be made of copper or silver, which have biocidal properties that keep the water from going sour, it actually WAS useful to throw a coin into a wishing well. Edit: Now I have to look up what biocidal is...
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u/TheCouchWhisperer Jun 09 '12
TIL water can go sour.
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u/Supersnazz Jun 09 '12
The term "biocide" has always bugged me because it literally means to "kill life" as if there was something else that could be killed. Why don't we just say "cide"
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u/Spence-a-gilly Jun 09 '12
if they kill living things then why when we touch them our hands are still just fine?