Old European currency

Drop the coins in the money donation (Wildlife Fund, UNESCO, etc.) receptacle provided in many airports. The recipients are probably used to finding odd coins in these receptacles and have figured out what to do with them.

When you say old money, it sounds like nothing particularly collectible, just pre-euro, perhaps.

An airport exchange booth won't take them at all. Even for valid money, they often don't take coins.

I think if the money is really old, you should contact a good coin dealer and see. But if it's just pre-euro and nothing special, I think the coins are virtually worthless. In France, they had no legal monetary value after about a year past when the euro was introduced. The notes can be exchanged until 2012.

We had found a bunch of old coins my father had - not antiques - just old - and packaged them up and sold them on ebay. I know you can do this with coins - since they're collectible - not sure about paper money.

I;m not sure even charities want old coins anymore - although they would probably go to the trouble of going to a central bank to change a substantial amount of paper money.

Correct, I just meant pre-Euro currency, I don't believe they are particularly old or collectible. I will double check this however.

Thanks for the info regarding coins and currency exchange booths. I wasn't aware they didn't take coins. I guess it is mainly the substantial bills that I would like to try to exchange.

ebay sounds interesting as well. Thanks!

http://www.gfc.de/index.php?id=6&L=1

Send them the money in a package (no need to separate coins from bills) and you'll get everthing in USD minus 30%. You have to have a paypal account.

German banks are using them too, so it's only a small risk.

Dutch pre Euro coins are now worthless. They could be exchanged for Euros for a number of years, but no longer is that true. Maybe they are worth something for the copper content, but as coins they are not worth anything.
If you donate them to a charity they doubtless get the scrap metal value for them, which is probably pretty good nowadays.
Logos, I expect it might cost more to post old coins from the US to Germany than you'd get back for them!

Yeah, the small coins are probably not worth it, however the bills and surely 5 marks or gulider coins.

Maybe not 5 guilders, but certainly any postwar DM coin. The silver in the pre 1972, 5DM coins is worth more than that amount today. So better be careful what to throw away.

Before my last trip to Italy I dug out an old envelope containing a large amount of paper currency. 1000's and 1000's of Lire. Nice windfall.

I wouldn't mind having a neckalce of old coins -- see if there's a bead store or jewelry hobbyist nearby who might recycle interesting coins into something wearable.

J62,

When did you go to Italy? Were you able to exchange them for Euro? If so, did you have to go to a certain bank? Other than French Francs, my bag of Lira is one of the largest. I have many 1000's of paper Lira and would hate to see them go to waste.

1000 Lire was worth about $0.80 in 1999, when they were last used before the Euro. (that's correct, less than 1 dollar)

No, I didn't bring it with me to try to exchange. They are in my old travel box in the basement where they are destined to stay. 5000 Lire. Now the 1000 Yen I'll be sure to bring to Japan next trip.

Old currency goes out of circulation even without the Euro.

In England, money without the current monarch can be traded in for a short while - then loses all but it's numismatic value.

I bought some King George coins from a coin dealer as a souvenir.

If you don't want to keep them or give them as gifts, you can probably find a coin dealer who will give you a relatively small amount for them.

Thanks for the link, logos999. I had a substantial amount of Austrian schillings left from a trip we took ages ago. I put them in a drawer *somewhere* - next time they surface I'll know where to send them.

Actually, I meant to say that I have quite a few 1000's of Lira... I've done the conversion and it is close to $100 US dollars worth. So you can see why I want to trade them in!

You're welcome, noe847
70% is still better than nothing.

Exchanging your paper francs in France can be done readily, but it can occupy a whole afternoon. My wife did it at the Tresor in Sarlat and had the sense of humor to enjoy a classic bureaucratic experience. Among other things, each bill has to be listed on the proper form by serial number, etc. Keep your sense of humor, don't have any immediate plans, and you will experience life as a non-tourist, as well as coming away with usable money.

We too have bags of currency from all the trips we have taken over the years. We've come up with a plan to use whatever currency is left against our hotel bill. We keep a small amount for the taxi, tips, etc. and use the rest.