I just found a wad of Italian lira from my trip 2 years ago....can I convert them into Euros next time I go<BR><BR>Grazie<BR><BR>(yo Adrian)

How much do you have? A wad of lire ain't worth as much as it looks! Save em for souveniers, bookmarks, etc.

Hey Rocky,<BR>I have the same situation with DM and FFr and found this link:<BR>http://www.euro.ecb.int/en/section1/timetable.html<BR>hth<BR>

Simply take them to any National Bank of Italy and you will get the full value for them as established when the Euro went into effect. There is no fee and there will be no variance to the rate of exchange.<BR>I was sent over $600 US in Lira last year as a refund for a rained-out opera in Verona. Exchanging them here costs an outrageous amount. I'll be exchanging them for Euro when I get to Italy this summer. I think that's a few too much money to use as bookmarks or souveniers

Patrick, of course that's worth converting to Euro! I just assumed that the average traveler (like myself) would find themselves with a much smaller amt of foreign currency after a trip. Sorry if I sounded cavalier, not my intention : )

The deadline for converting lira notes and coins into euro at commercial banks is AFAIK June 30. After that, you can only exchange them at a branch of Banca d'Italia in every provincial capital. List and opening hours at http://www.ecb.int/change/ncb/italy.htm

No offense, x, I hope I didn't sound too cavalier, either. I was in shock last summer when I returned to find in my mail this envelope from Verona with actual Lira notes in it -- well over a million Lira!

Patrick,<BR>YOU SPENT OVER $600 TO SEE AN OPERA IN VERONA?<BR>I think you have too much money!!

And how many tickets did you think that represented? I really like the way people assume when they have so few of the facts. <BR>On the other hand I know many people who have spent over $600 for a single ticket to the opera -- I happen not to be one of them, not even close.

They sent you $600 dollars worth of cash in the mail???<BR>For front row tickets to see Claudio Baglioni or one of my other faves, in a beautiful setting like the collosseum in Verona, I might consider spending that much : )

OK, so it was for four tickets -- special seating about 8 rows back, the fully upholstered seats. At $150 each for what we expected to be a once in a lifetime experience, it didn't seem so bad -- too bad we were rained out and never saw it. I had wanted to see Aida at the Arena in Verona for many years and hopefully that was to finally happen. Because we had a train to catch for Switzerland the next morning and the box office didn't open for refunds until after we were leaving, out hotel agreed to take our tickets and get our refund for us. Yes, they sent us cash (in Lira) in the mail.