Paris Airport Currency Exchange
 

The USA won't accept coins to change into notes. Does anyone do it in the CDG airport? I have a TON of coins laying around. Do you have to have them sorted?

Hi CC

Give your coins to charity.

No one wants them.

((I))

A lot of airports have these big globe-shaped donation bins where you can dump unwanted currency and it's given to charity. I'd look for one of those. I'm thrifty, but honestly, how much money are we talking about?

I assume you're talking about Euros. Why not spend them instead of hoarding them? Or, as noted above, give them to charity.

Well, I would stock up on European candies at the airport but that's just me. Otherwise, donate, save for your next trip, or give/sell them to someone you know who's headed to Europe.

There are online companies that will change coins. For their own profit, of course.

OK, re-reading, I now assume that the OP is home in the US and has "TONS" of coins, presumably Euros. Is that right? And is going to Paris?

Idk, I'm confused.

'Coins' doesn't necessarily mean small change. It doesn't take too awful many €2 coins to add up to real money. BUT - if you are going to be at CDG it would seem to indicate you will be traveling in the euro zone. So why not just <i>spend</i> them?

It isn't clear but I presume the OP is in France and planning to leave by CDG and wants to know if he can change his coins there. I guess. I agree, why not use them before you go. Euro coins can get really heavy, I find, when I start lugging around a lot of them. They are always good for buying a cup of coffee, something at the newstand, a snack, or tickets, so easy to use them up, I would think. Or just to buy something at the airport before you leave, a snack or souvenir.

To be honest, I don't really know the answer to the question but suspect they might if you are not talking centimes, but at least 1 euro coins. I sure wouldn't bet on it, though, as places like that may not want to keep coins around. But you can't have that many coins. I always just save my money for my next trip. How many can you possibly have, $20 worth? (of 1-2 euro coins)

here is their email address, you can write and ask
Aéroport Paris Charles De Gaulle - T2A LS Départs ROISSY 95716
Email:
[email protected]

What is your situation? Since you are talking about CDG and mentions USA, I am assuming this is a near future event for someone returning from CDG to USA? It would help to provide relevant background without others having to do detective work.

If you have not yet left hotel in Euro zone, one easy way is to get rid of local currency is to split tender your hotel bill. I make sure the local current left over, considering transport to airport, is less than what I owe to the hotel. I get rid of all local currency when I check-out. They have always taken coins. I don't even get hit by the Euro to Dollar conversion charges.

I don't always bother exchanging strong foreign currencies like Euros. I can easy use them on my future trips. This is especially is the case now when the US dollar is steadily weakening against Euro. For weak currencies, I usually use the hotel method. On my trip to to Istanbul, I was left with on box lokum worth of Liras, so that was what I did.

Americans are used to thinking of coins as basically worthless--anything larger than quarters are uncommon, so coins get tossed in a tip jar or collected at home until the reach critical mass.

Euro coins are actually worth something, at least the 1 or 2 euro coins. I separate those into a separate pocket and use them. The rest go into a donation bin upon leaving Europe.

I was thinking the same, elberko! Coin management is not something we Americans are accustomed to.

I admit, foreign currency is a bit like mad money to me when I'm at the airport for my flight(s) home. I do as Hobbert does: stock up on candy that I can't get at home.

But that's not relevant to the OP!

Too bad the OP didn't visit the DutyFree shop.

I save every 1 and 2€ coin I can to pay for my next vacation. Really adds up.

I agree we need to know what your situation is and why you need to turn in your coins. You can donate them on many airlines. You can go to any LeClerc in France and turn them in for a store credit, which is what we do because we accumulate them like nobody's business. Or you can spend them at the airport if you're leaving the country.

Maybe they aren't euro but some other currency.

If they are euro coins and you are only passing through CDG then spend them if you can. Donate the smaller value coins, and keep the larger value coins for another trip or to give or sell to someone else.

Some bureau at airports accept certain coins but you will get a terrible exchange rate for them, even worse than for notes because banks tend to charge a lot for handling coins.

Store credit in a country one doesn't live in would be useless, no?

We travel all the time. I have coins from South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, China, etc. No Euro's! I would use them - of course. We will be in CDG next month and I don't want to carry them (there is probably 5 pounds worth) to exchange them if no one will take them - like here.

Store credit in a country you are visiting can be a big money-saver assuming you can get to the store. I know plenty of tourists who do this every year.

<I know plenty of tourists who do this every year.>
I really doubt that. This is like the advice here to schlep around Paris searching for a curling iron when you can buy a dual voltage one from Amazon before you leave. But whatever.

OP, I think I understand your question now, but I don't know the answer. Christina gave you an email address above that seems like the best bet.

<<I really doubt that.>>

As usual, you don't know what you're talking about. There are countless tourists who come to the Périgord every summer, plonk themselves down in campgrounds, and visit LeClerc because it's the cheapest place, along with Grand Frais, to get goodies to feed the family. There's no schlepping around; it's one trip to LeClerc and a big savings if they've accumulated a lot of euro coins.