The last time we were in Europe the Euro was not universal. This is probably a dumb question, but I'm curious how it affects the exchange rate. For instance, is the dollar still weak in London? When we were in Holland the dollar was worth 2 Guilders which meant bargain shopping for the most part. How does this work with the Euro?

At this moment bargain shopping is a thing of the past.

The euro isn't universal in Europe. For example, Great Britain still uses the pound.

The exchange rate Euro against the Dollar fluctuates just as it does against every other currency in thw world. I disagree that bargain shopping is a "thing of the past." It depends on where (what country) you are spending your (exchanged) dollars and what you are planning to buy. If, on the other hand, that you have some notion that the Dollar is going to buy you a lot of foreign currency, that also depends on the country. For example, the Dollar has never been worth as much or more than a British pound in the last 30+ years and probably never will be...and don't hold your breath for the Euro to drop below a Dollar in the near future, either.

What's the exchange rate in Italy these days?

Here is a link to a website that converts one type of currency into another: http://www.xe.com/ucc kind of fun to play around with.

The exchange rate in Italy is the same as in Germany, which is the same as in France, which is the same as in Spain.......etc......etc....

You will get the same exchange rate in any and all countries. It's the day to day dollar to euro exchange rate that counts, not the country. Believe it or not you will get the same exchange in the US, allowing of course for any and all charges levied by the broker/bank, etc...

The following countries converted to Euro:
Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Italy, Austria,

There is more:
Portugal, Netherlands, Finland and Sweden. I apologize if I missed a country or two.

Some of the major European countries still using their own currency, which is also convertable to Euro are:
Great Britain, Russia, Poland, Czech Rep., Hungary, Norway, Denmark, and few more.

...Netherlands....

(Netherlands is on the Euro. You snuck that one in while I was typing, AAFrequentFlyer. .)

I don't believe Sweden uses the euro. It didn't in June of 2002 when I was there. Other than that I think you've listed them all.

I understand about the Euro. My confusion lies with the coins. Are they all the same in the countries using the Euro or does each country using the Euro have their own coins? If so can they be used from country to country?

All the euro coins are interchangeable. Think of them like those US quarters that have different states on the backs of them. They are all good in any state -- same with the euro coins even though they may have individual country names on them.

Euro coins are no different than euro paper money. They spend the same across countries. Like the US has quarters with state logos on the back now, the EU countries each get to put their own design on one side of the coins. The other side is standard and has the denomination.

too quick for me Patrick.

Sweden holds a referendum on September 14 to decide whether to join European economic and monetary union, and polls suggest the anti-euro "No" vote has a strong lead, although many voters remain undecided.

Okay, now I get it! That does take a bite out of the U.S. dollar in countries that had a favorable (for US) exchange.

What about Switzerland?

Jayne:

1.39 Swiss francs to the Dollar (good for us, not-so-good for you ;-) )

Phil

Jayne: It does not necessarily take a bite out of the favorable exchange rate of the old currency as that currency is fixed against the euro. The problem is that the dollar has dropped against the euro and would have dropped against the old currency just as much. France still gives prices in both francs and euros, with the franc fixed at about 6.5 to the euro. 6.5 francs used to be worth less than a dollar but it is now worth more than a dollar.

The Swiss franc is still the Swiss franc and it is said that the Swiss want to maintain an independent banking system and therefore are not likely to join the euro.

The mnemonic for the countries currently in the Eurozone is
BAFFLING PIGS (Belgium, Austria, France, Finland, Luxembourg, Italy, Netherlands, Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Germany, Spain).

The UK, Denmark and Sweden are the EU members not in the zone. Sweden is voting this weekend, Denmark and the UK will wait and see, but practical politics suggests it's off the agenda in the UK for a few more years still, and the Danes would be in no hurry even if it weren't. The new countries joining the EU (Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia) on 1st May 2004 are also joining the zone but will not be adopting the euro immediately - it depends on progress towards economic and fiscal convergence (including a period of fixed exchange rates):
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/faq/faq2.htm#euro

Bulgaria and Romania hope to join by 2007. Switzerland, Iceland and Norway are in neither the EU nor the zone. Turkey hopes to be at some point....