Pocket Change Is Causing Destruction at Iconic UNESCO World Heritage Site

Yahoo

5 days ago

Northern Ireland's legendary Giant's Causeway has survived a lot over 60 million years including volcanic eruptions, crashing waves, and even myths of battling giants. However, pocket change is becoming its latest threat, and authorities are now asking visitors to stop jamming coins into the iconic rocks.
If you've ever visited the Causeway, you know the awe that hits as you step onto its iconic basalt columns, rising like nature's staircase into the sea. But look a little closer, and you'll start to notice tiny metallic intrusions shoved into cracks and crevices. Dozens, hundreds, and thousands of coins, that seem to multiply everywhere you look. What began as a superstitious gesture—coins left behind for luck or love—has turned into a headache for conservationists. And now, the National Trust is asking visitors to knock it off.
"People see others put coins in, so they copycat, they take a coin out of their pocket and they might take a stone off the ground to hammer the coin in, but they might miss and chip the stone itself so that's doing damage," says Dr. Cliff Henry, nature engagement officer with the Trust.
This tourist behavior results in rust stains, chipped stone, and structural damage to some of the site's most fragile formations, especially an area known as The Loom, which is a cluster of 10-foot-tall leaning columns that are already feeling the wear.
Once the coins are in, they don't just sit there. The salty sea air accelerates corrosion, and expanding metal puts pressure on the basalt. In some cases, pieces have already broken off. Then there's the rust. A reddish-brown wash now stains the lighter-colored rocks, thanks to metals like copper, iron, and nickel leaching out and streaking the stone.
'This is rapid erosion on a geological scale,' says Henry. 'And we're talking about a World Heritage site here.'
The Giant's Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. 684,000 visitors came last year alone, as attendance steadily climbs back toward the pre-pandemic peak of nearly one million.
In response to concerns over damage caused by visitors wedging coins into the rock formations, the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland is supporting a cleanup effort. According to Dr. Kirstin Lemon, the first step is the safe removal of the coins, a task already underway with the help of a professional stonemason who has extracted about 10% so far. The hope is that once the coins are gone, the damaging habit will disappear as well.
'We don't want visitors trying to pry them out themselves,' warns Henry, emphasizing the risk of causing further damage. Speaking to the BBC, he added, 'It's Northern Ireland's most iconic natural wonder. If we can't protect this, what does that say about how we care for the rest of our landscape?'
For now, new signs and stronger messaging are on the way, but ultimately, the Causeway's future depends on people respecting what's already there.
Pocket Change Is Causing Destruction at Iconic UNESCO World Heritage Site first appeared on Men's Journal on May 29, 2025