Endeavoring to restore the Roman state to solvency, Vespasian imposed taxes on many commodities, among them the use of the city's public urinals. When Vespasian's son Titus objected that such a tax was undignified, Vespasian procured a handful of coins thus taken and held them up to his son's nose. "Non olet," he declared (they do not smell).

[In France public urinals are often referred to as vespasiennes.]

[San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel once employed a full-time coin washer to ensure that its guests received only freshly washed coins.]