Randy

Any banks in the US where I can convert to Euro's?

no

Nope.<BR>

Bob

Put em in a jar and consider em souviners.

xx

Or take them to a jeweler and have them attached to a necklace or bracelet.

Andrea

We have a glass-topped coffee table with a recessed display area underneath it that we use for displaying things just like this - we typically do a "table" with souveniers from each country we visit upon our return. While we're there, I'm sure to grab all of our ticket stubs from museums, operas, etc., and a couple of local newspapers or interesting old posters etc.

just

<BR>Andrea:<BR>How big is your house?

Andrea

It's 350 sq.m, about 3500 sq.ft. Perhaps I was unclear - we have ONE coffee table like that (it's an old mahjong table, cut short), and we do one table after one trip, then after the next trip, we REPLACE it with the things from our latest trip. Didn't mean to make it sound as though we had a huge house full of memory tables!!

Wendy

You can also glue small magnets to the back and turn them into refrigerator magnets.

John

Hand them out as tips to Prague taxi drivers. I once had a (typical) experience with a Prague cabbie, i.e., got taken for a ride, so I tipped him 100 Zloty (Polish) at a time when the official exchange rate was, roughly, zero. (It was illegal to export Polish currency but the human ATM had missed me on the train.) I'll never forget the perplexed look on the ripoff cab driver's face. How sweet it was.

Jamie

Do you capitalize dollar? Then don't capitalize euro. And no apostrophe, please.

Byrd

Drill little holes in them, hang them on the Christmas tree. You will probably have to use thread or tiny fishing line through the hole, then tie with pretty ribbon, decorations, etc.

Tee

How about we drill tiny holes into Jamie for her/his critical response.

fun

These are GREAT responses. The banks almost never exchange coins. I like the ideas here.<BR>The jewelry idea is terrific!

wait

wait....take a second look at your coins, because if you have coins from the years 2000 and 2001 they can value some money in a couple of years. Collectors love those limited edition coins (well, actually they aren't limited editions, but since very few were made, it works out the same)

Randy

Ok..what if I take the coins back to the specific European country? Can I then exchange them into euro's?

xxx

Please, no apostrophe (unless you are a greengrocer - they are allowed to sell banana's, apple's and so on). <BR><BR>Coins from pre-euro currencies are unlikely to be worth the commission for changing them, even if you can find a bank that will do so. Why not give them to charity - lots of charities are accepting them.

Susan

Dear Randy,<BR><BR>This info is copied from Fodor's home page link to questions about the euro. Hope it helps.<BR><BR><BR>"Will the old currencies ever be rendered completely worthless? <BR><BR>No. At least not in the foreseeable future. National central banks will exchange their old national banknotes for euros until at least 2012. In most countries, though, the redemption periods are even longer or indefinite. <BR>Coins, however, will be exchanged at national banks free of charge through the end of 2002 only. After that time, coins might have worth as collector's items only. <BR><BR>Resource: europa.eu.int "<BR><BR>

bettyk

I do seem to remember reading that American Express or Thomas Cook (one of the currency brokers) was accepting foreign coins for charity. This was around the time of the change to euro. Maybe they are still doing this??

Christina

I think when I flew to US in June from London, British Airways was collecting coins for some charity. I've also seen some local companies where I live advertise that, grocery stores, I think.<BR><BR>I think I sometimes capitalize it also, probably because I'm used to that being capitalized as the beginning of any other word (Europe, European, etc) and because it sort of looks capitalized when the EC tries to get clever and use the euro symbol as the beginning of the word, as on this page (where you can find out all about getting rid of them and where, BTW): http://europa.eu.int/euro/html/entry.html<BR><BR>I really like Andrea's coffee table idea, I am thinking I could so something similar with one of those simple plexiglass frames that are one sheet of plexiglass and only four unobtrusive clips on the sides to hold the backing on. YOu could choose some color board that would show off the coins, currency, tickets, etc. and hang it on the wall. You can get those in crafts stores or discount stores in picture frame sizes.<BR><BR>

George

By some European shoes and put the coins in them and call them Euro Loafers.