But come to find out, these are considered "Wishing Trees" and people have been driving coins into them for centuries now...kind of like tossing a coin in a fountain...
Daily Mail has the full story
Also,
One form of votive offering is the token offering of a coin. One such tree still stands near Ardmaddy House in Argyll, Scotland, a hawthorn, which is a species traditionally linked with fertility. The trunk and branches are covered with hundreds of coins which have been driven through the bark and into the wood. The local tradition is that a wish will be granted for each of the coins so treated.[1]
In the glen of the Aira Beck near Aira Force is a wish tree formed from a large fallen tree trunk into which the many visitors hammer coins using stones from nearby.
On Isle Maree in Loch Maree, Gairloch, in the Highlands is an oak wish tree made famous by a visit in 1877 by Queen Victoria mentioned in her published diaries. The tree, and others surrounding it, are festooned with hammered-in coins. It is near the healing well of St. Maree, to which votive offerings were made, including the sacrifice of bulls, which continued up to the 18th century, according to records.[2]
Near Mountrath, County Laois, is a shapeless old wish tree in the form of a sycamore tree called St. Fintan's Well. The original well was filled in, but the water re-appeared in the centre of the tree. Hundreds of Irish pennies have been beaten into the bark as good luck offerings.[3]
The High Force Waterfall has a coin wish tree in the grounds of the waterfall.
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