Europe in my pocket

[Deleted]

One of the things I like about the euro currency, other than its fantastic convenience, is the idea that coins from everywhere are in my pocket.

In today's inventory, I have:

13 French coins, 3 Italian, 3 Spanish, 2 Dutch, and 1 each of Austria, Greece, Ireland, Germany and Luxembourg.

[bjd]

Did you know that when the euro was introduced, there were people selected in the various euro countries who tracked the coins they received? It was to know how quickly they travelled. Apparently, the euro coins spread much more quickly than had been foreseen.

In Paris I guess you have a greater choice, Kerouac, with all the tourists. In my purse today I have: 1 Italian, 1 German, 7 French and 7 Spanish.

[Deleted]

I usually have more Spanish and more German than I did today -- not to mention Belgian.

[lagatta]

I just have a few left over from my last trip. Oddly, the 2 and 1 € coins are both Italian, and I was nowhere near Italy, nor were there many Italians at the conference.

4 50€ cents - three German, one French. 2 20 c, one French, one Belgian. 1 10c - French. 6 10c - 3 Netherlands, 1 Italy - and the oak leaf - I think that is German - two of those.

I have a few small value euronotes in the same little basket, but those have no "national" identity.

I think I got all of these in Amsterdam.

[bixaorellana]

Even though I knew the members of the Union accepted each others currency, I never quite realized that so many different kinds of coins would filter into the average pocket. Interesting!

I imagine many of the Euro countries are nervously clutching their change today -- probably with good reason. Really, I know so little about this .... can anyone comment?
www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/business/global/26drachma.html?th&emc=th

[Deleted]

At the moment it's mostly a question of drawing lines in the sand and daring the other party to cross it -- Eurozone vs. Greece and speculators vs. Eurozone. While Greece knows that it has to toe the line or go under, the speculators are another matter.

However, I think that if they really start attacking, some of the other players will step in to support the euro. The oil countries have shifted a lot of their money into euros and so has China. They will want to protect their investment.

[Deleted]

16 French, 2 Spanish, 2 Belgian, 1 Finnish, 1 Dutch, 1 German, 1 Greek.

[fumobici]

I: 26
D: 3
F: 2
NL: 1
E: 1

And these three I take to be either German or Austrian:

[Deleted]

Those are German.

[fumobici]

The 2 Euro coins have German writing around the edge

Even I could figure out the ones with the Brandenburg Gate on the back.

[gertie]

Well, I don't have Europe in my pocket, but I do have a can I keep by my computer. A handful of French coins that came home with me from my first trip to Paris are something I treasure, though I assume they are worthless as they are all denominations of francs and centimes. A few Euros that never seemed to have the poetry of my beloved Francs from a later visit sit among the hoi paloi in the can, whereas my francs have pride of place in the coin wallet my Grammy gave me as a child. Pesos in rough paper bills are a reminder of a long-ago journey in Mexico, also likely worthless as I think they reissued since 1985? A silver silver dollar made into a bill clip is a memento of my dear father-in-law. From Australia, a handful of coins given to me by a friend as encouragement to make my own trip there someday. Some Canadian money from a trip when I was 15. A handful of coins left from our trip to London. A New Zealand coin which I think slipped in among change on my Australian trip. Some coins from somewhere Asian a gentleman traded me on the plane home from my first Paris trip as he wanted to use them to hint to his wife-to-be he intended to take her to Paris for their honeymoon. They have fancifully towering Asian buildings shown on the back and an Asian man with glasses in the coppery golden centers with incomprehensible script that may possibly be elven on the silver outer rings. I know they were from a stop on his travels for his company, but I do not recall anymore. Not that it matters so much, I enjoy them for the fanciful glimpse at a far-away land.

[lagatta]

I was wondering what to do with my bowl of pre-Euro change. I kept an old "gettone telefonico" as that was so funny - also because foreign students quickly figured out how to drill a tiny hole in them and use them for endless phone calls back home - this could mean an entire Moroccan or Senegalese village lined up at the one phone available in pre portable/cell/mobile days. And a medal to Perugia we got at one of those pretentious ceremonies Italians are so fond of. But I try not to have too much clutter (I'm imagining gertie with a larger dwelling than mine - it isn't tiny, but it is an apartment).

In years past, I'd have taken them to the airport as they had clear plastic vats to clean out your change by giving it to a charity, but I don't think anything, not even the European Central Bank, takes old pre-Euro change.

Gertie, I do have a Sacagawea dollar. Not really "silver" nowadays. Imagine this young Shoshone lass with her part-Métis boy on her back, showing those two white guys across the continent, and them taking all the credit!

[bjd]

Lagatta, the Banque de France takes back francs until February, 2012. I thought at first it was only bills, but a few years ago I took in a bag of coins and they exchanged them for euros. I don't know if it's still the case, but you could find out.

[Deleted]

No, it's finished for the coins and even for most of the banknotes. On the other hand, Germany has put no limit EVER for any of its coins and banknotes.

[lagatta]

Pity. I wouldn't bother trying to change them - just thought they could be turned over to charity. Oh well. I have very few German coins, and no DM banknotes.

[gertie]

I wouldn't change my francs for Euros in any case. Those are a reminder of my first trip to France and to Europe. I know the Euro is easier, but I was really saddened when they got rid of the national currencies. I feel really sad I will never get to collect pockets full of coins from different countries as I travel across Europe, but I guess everything changes. The good part is it has really made me determined to try to see as much of the world as I can as soon as I can because you never really know when things will change.

[greyghost1]

What I find funny is when you are 'innocently' given a coin from some other currency mixed within the euros etc. I'll be looking to pay for a newspaper with change and discover some coin from someplace far removed from a euro country. As I probably never visit that country I always save them when I return home.

[greyghost1]

Does anyone know why FF prices are still posted on some items now that the French bank won't exchange them anymore? We visited Paris the first year of the Euro in France the exchange rate was 99 cents for a Euro...and that year everything was posted in FF.

[Deleted]

It is as a courtesy to old people. Some of the other euro countries do it, too. I think it is a mistake.

[greyghost1]

kerouac, then does this give the older person a reference to how much the thing costs at some point in the past? Or are they expected to do the math in their head or something? The "courtesy" seems an odd reason as it would make me think that things cost way too much these days and that I was getting 'old'.

[Deleted]

Most of us don't understand francs anymore except for a few prices that stuck in our head. For example, a domestic stamp used to cost 3.00 francs, which was converted to 0.46€. Since 2002, the cost of a stamp has risen to 0.56€, which would be 3.67 francs.

The conversion rate of euros to francs is 6.55957 which was one of the more difficult ones of the EU (Germans just had to divide by 2 more or less), so it is best to just forget francs forever, but some people have a mental block. Go figure.

[Deleted]

[Deleted]

I haven't checked for a long time, so this morning:

12 French coins, 2 German, 2 Italian, 1 Spanish, 1 Greek, 1 Cypriot, 1 Irish.

[bjd]

This just reminds me that I haven't either:

1 German, 2 Spanish, 1 Belgian, 1 Austria, the rest of which one is a 2€ coin and the others are copper are all French.

[mossie]

Because I only visit Paris I tend to refer to Euros as Francs.

One of our newspapers recently published an article about how worried people were by the Greek situation and if Greek euros would be worthless. Apparently one can tell which country issued the notes by the leading character in the number. Afraid I have forgotten which was Greek and which German.
Better get German euros LOL

[Deleted]

There was already a hoax launched about this back at the very beginning of the Greek crisis, telling people that stores were going to refuse the Greek coins. They didn't mention the banknotes simply because the identification codes would have made the hoax too complicated.

Montenegro and Kosovo use the euro as their currency with absolutely no authorisation, and this does not seem to bother the ECB.

[htmb]

Most of my coins are from France, but I have one each from Spain and Italy, plus three that I don't recognize and the print is too small for me to read. Germany and Austria.

[Deleted]

Lots of Europe in my pocket this morning.

24 France (mostly small copper)
5 Germany
3 Spain
3 Belgium
1 Netherlands
1 Spain
1 Italy
1 Lithuania
1 Portugal
1 Finland
1 Austria

[bjd]

Not much in mine:

9 France
3 Spain
2 Italy

[kerouac2]

8 France
3 Belgium
1 Italy
1 Germany
1 Slovakia
1 Portugal
1 Spain