Oops! We goofed and left London with....
 

roughly 65 GBP tucked away in a purse. Ouch!

Any ideas how to lessen the cost of converting back to $$? (It's doubtful that circumstances will see us going back to the UK.)

Maybe you have some friends or coworkers who will be making a trip in the near future? You could "sell" them your pounds.

what Betty said!

Many folks not visiting the UK need a few pound notes, anyone (like me) who passes thru Heathrow regularly as their connection to the rest of Europe.

If you will be travelling to another country, take your pounds with you and change them directly into whichever currency you need. You lose quite a lot every time you change, so it is cheaper to change from pounds to, say euros, than to dollars and then euros. If you don't intend to travel abroad again then ask at your bank or AAA office if they can help you.

..save them..start planning for another UK trip!!

If you exchange them in the States you will take a hit. So as the others say -- sell them to someone going to the UK in the near future, otherwise suze's suggestion to save them for a trip through London enroute somewhere else is good.

You can post them directly to me. I'll pay for the stamp.

Sell them on ebay. :)

Call your bank and ask them what to do. Some banks, like BofA have a foreign currency branch.

The problem with selling them on eBay is ... eBay.

If you sell them anywhere near par, they get a Listing Fee and a Final Value Fee that would make the money changers at the airport seem like a sweetheart deal.

How much do you want for them?

At today's posted exchange rate your talking about something like $115US which is not much in the scheme of the foreign currency exchange world (meaning you have no bargain power). Your best bet is to find a bank that will exchange them for you and just be ready to absorb the "hit". Your other alternative is to sell them to a friend going to the UK. Trying to do anything else would be a waste of time and effort.

I find this posting very interesting. You would never read a European posting wailing about exchanging money and "taking the hit" from banks. Do US banks really charge that much and give lousy rates? This is a genuine question.

If we look at it the other way and I came home from the US with $115 then I would expect to receive somewhere in the region of £57 back (i.e. a lower buy back rate, commission free). How much would you expect to receive from a US bank?

Europeans are used to exchanging money (although, much less so now that so many use the Euro). The Post Office in the UK offer commission free exchange with fairly competitive rates, and most banks offer commission free to their "more valued" customers.

I saw a package deal on e-Bay this summer where the seller put together the guidebooks, maps, and leftover currency, and auctioned that as one sale. Who know, you might make back a good bit of it.

I have 37 Egyptian pounds (and $25 NZ) - I'll swap you! :)

Bank of America will buy it back at this rate:
"Exchange rates for selling.

Exchange Rate for Great Britain Pound Sterling: 1.67150000"

That's what I would do if I didn't know anyone planning to travel to the UK who would buy the GBP from me.

BTW you must be a B of A customer to use this service.

I'm amazed like AR. Every high St in Britain has travel agencies who will exchange foreign currencies (not just dollars and Euros but obscure currencies such as Zlotys and Bahts etc). Also the post office does this (and every one I know changes their currency at the Post Office - it's the best deal around).

Is there no such equivelent in the USA? This is a genuine question.

No service like that at all in the US..not even every bank will exchange currency. If I go to my near-by Bank of America, they have to order the currency and I have to wait 2 or 3 days. Fortunately the BofA a few miles from my home , have currency on hand . Preferred customers don't have to pay a service fee.

The only travel agents I know who handle currency are AAA and American Express, but you have to find their offices and they are sparse!

There are several online companies who sell currency but their rates aren't great and they have a hefty shipping fee unless you are buying $500.00 or more

AR, i exchange leftover travel money at the post office (UK). however, the rates in general are not very good (although commission free). i don't worry (nor wail) about it as it is just a fact of life.

i don't know what is so surprising as the UK used to be within a two hour plane ride of many, many countries with different currencies. how would a currency changer on every street corner in the US be profitable? even banks need to stock a range of foreign notes if they want to offer this service...hardly profitable in most locations. perhaps the exchange services in the UK will diminish as the euro ages and bank machines take more of this business. i never sell back euros and i'm sure many other people do not either.

AR and David_west: More re our exchange problems here in the States.

I live outside of Sacramento - now it isn't LA, Chicago or NYC, but still a large metropolitan area and the state capital. One branch of BofA (out of approx 40 local branches) usually has currency on hand - but if you hit them on a bad day they will be out of the currency you need. And IF they do have what you want you must to have a BofA account. Every other branch you have to order currency in advance.

There was one Amex branch that usually, but not always, had several major foreign currencies on hand. But that office closed.

Wells Fargo - another major bank chain - used to do currency exchange at their main downtown branch. (they may still, I have used them for quite a long time). But there was no guarantee they'd have any if you just walked in so you had to call ahead of time. If they had to order the money you were in for a 3 to 4 day wait.

Most other local or regional bank just don't handle foreign curreny at all.

Post offices here don't deal in currency exchange.

Just some of the reasons we get so many questions on here from Americans about currency exchange, and almost none from other countries