This is one of the most powerful yet little-known feng shui wealth cures. It costs almost nothing, takes 2 minutes, and activates prosperity every time you walk through your door!
The Secret Cure
Place 3 coins (or 8 coins) under your front doormat, tied together with a red ribbon or string.
Every time you step on the mat, you "walk on money" — symbolizing wealth under your feet!
Why This Works
- The front door = "Mouth of Chi" where energy enters
- Coins symbolize wealth and prosperity
- Red ribbon activates and protects the wealth energy
- 👣 Walking "on money" = abundance under your feet
- Draws financial luck from OUTSIDE into your home
How to Do It
- Get 3 or 8 coins — Chinese coins are traditional, but any gold-colored coins work!
- Tie them together with a red ribbon, thread, or string (this is important!)
- Place under your doormat — outside your front door, not inside
- Set your intention — as you place them, visualize wealth entering your home
- Replace annually — refresh on Chinese New Year for continuous luck
How Many Coins?
Three Coins
Represents growth & expansion. The most common choice.
Six Coins
Represents heavenly luck & mentor support.
Eight Coins
The luckiest wealth number. Maximum prosperity!
Nine Coins
Represents completeness & long-lasting wealth.
Pro Tips
- Chinese I-Ching coins are most powerful (with square hole in center)
- New coins are best — avoid old, tarnished coins
- Yang side up — the side with 4 Chinese characters faces up
- Don't tell others — keep it as your secret wealth cure!
- Combine with a red doormat for extra activation
Important Notes
- Don't use 4 coins — 4 is unlucky in Chinese culture
- Replace if coins become rusty or damaged
- If your doormat is inside, place coins under an outside mat
Do the Coins Need to Be Real Chinese Antiques?
No — and chasing "authentic" antique coins can actually work against you. Genuine antique Chinese coins carry unknown history (whose hands they passed through, what circumstances they were spent or lost in), which some practitioners consider a liability rather than an asset for a fresh wealth cure. Modern replica I-Ching coins — sold specifically for feng shui use, usually brass, with the square hole and the four characters — are the standard choice for a reason: they're "clean" symbolically and consistent in design.
| Coin Type | Use It? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New brass I-Ching replica coins | Best choice | Purpose-made, no history, consistent symbolism |
| Modern country currency (any gold-colored coin) | Fine substitute | Round + gold-colored is the core requirement if I-Ching coins aren't available |
| Inherited antique Chinese coins | Use with caution | Better displayed indoors as decor than buried under a mat with unknown history |
| Foreign coins with holes punched through (not the traditional square hole) | Avoid | A punched hole damages the coin's integrity — the traditional cast square hole is different |
What If You Live in an Apartment With a Shared Building Entrance?
You don't have access to the building's main door, but your own unit's front door is still your personal "Mouth of Chi." Place the coins under the doormat directly outside YOUR unit door, not the building's street entrance. A few adaptations for apartment living:
- No outdoor mat allowed by building rules? Place the tied coins in a small dish or under a boot tray just inside your door instead — the "walking near it daily" principle still applies.
- Shared hallway carpet you can't lift? Tuck the coins under your own welcome mat if you have one, or tape them to the underside of the mat rather than the floor itself.
- Moving out soon? Take the coins with you — the cure is tied to you and your household, not the physical unit, so don't leave them for the next tenant.
Common Mistakes
- Placing the coins inside the door instead of outside. The cure works because you step OVER the coins entering your home from the outside world — coins placed inside miss the point entirely.
- Using coins with the yin side up. The side with four Chinese characters (yang) should face upward, toward you as you step on the mat.
- Forgetting the ribbon entirely. Loose, untied coins can shift out of position under the mat and lose the "bound together" symbolism that ties the wealth cure into one unit.
- Using a synthetic ribbon that degrades fast in wet weather. A cheap ribbon left outdoors under a mat rots quickly — a short length of red cotton string holds up far better through rain and foot traffic.
- Checking on them too often. Once placed, leave the coins alone until your annual refresh — repeatedly lifting the mat to peek disturbs the placement.
The Annual Refresh Ritual, Step by Step
The coins don't need constant attention, but they do need a proper annual refresh — ideally timed to Chinese New Year, when many wealth cures across the home are traditionally renewed at once.
- Lift the mat and remove the old coins. Don't just add new ones on top — start clean.
- Thank the old set before setting them aside — some practitioners keep retired coins in a drawer rather than discarding them, treating them as having "served their purpose."
- Clean the doormat itself and the ground or threshold underneath — a full reset, not just a coin swap.
- Tie a fresh set of coins with new red ribbon, following the same steps as the original placement.
- Set a renewed intention for the coming year specifically, rather than repeating last year's wording — treat it as an annual check-in on your financial goals, not a static, unchanging spell.
Frequently Asked Questions
Doormat Coins FAQ
Any gold-colored, round coin works — new brass I-Ching replica coins (sold specifically for feng shui use) are the standard choice because they carry no unknown history and have consistent symbolism, unlike inherited antiques.
Place the coins under your unit's own doormat regardless of whether it's technically inside or outside a shared hallway — what matters is that it's the mat you personally step on entering your home, not the building's main street entrance.
Leave them undisturbed and only check during your annual refresh, traditionally around Chinese New Year. Frequently lifting the mat to look disrupts the placement and adds unnecessary wear to the mat itself.
Yes, it's worth checking under your new doormat and replacing any coins you find with your own fresh set. A cure placed with someone else's intention isn't considered as effective as one you set yourself.
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