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Post by Kim on Oct 21, 2001 9:37:30 GMT -5
15,000 Portugese Escudos are worth close to $70 US and the 2,000 Hungarian Forints are worth about $8 US. (Unless you mean 20,000-which is close to $70 as well).
What I would do personally is take it to a currency exchange in your area and just cash it in for US cash. Put in your account and that way you can access it your account and withdrawl it in local currency from where ever you are!
Dual circulation ends on Feb.28th in Portugal and will not be legal tender after Feb.28th, 2002. You do have 5-10 years to exchange them at a bank if they are in bill form. Not sure about Hungary...
For info's sake, here are when some other countries are withdrawing duo circulations:
In Germany, the Deutsche mark will be withdrawn from circulation as of Jan. 1.
Dual circulation will end in the Netherlands on Jan. 28; Ireland, Feb. 9; France, Feb. 17; Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain, Feb. 28.
Basically, it might be a hassle to take and just easier to cash in here before you go.
Kim
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Post by 'Guest' on Oct 21, 2001 12:24:04 GMT -5
Kim is right about those dates. (note that there is *no* official period of dual circulation in Germany)
But, changing the money twice, as she suggests in depositing it in your us bank acct. would be a money losing idea. you lose a lot of it's value with the change.
if the hassle of carrying the bills with you is too much, than do as she sez. if not, just take it with you.
to my knowledge, us banks won't take foreign coins. and bills don't weigh much to carry.
bringing cash home with you from an overseas trip isn't a good idea. unless you want a keepsake! (i'm guilty of this, too)
but, the forints will still be good for the forseeable future. and, as kim writes, the Escudos will be good until the end of february.
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Post by Kim on Oct 21, 2001 12:53:27 GMT -5
But the thing is, it looks like she will be in these countries after the dual circulation ends. Would it be a better idea to exchange it in a bank here or exchange it in a bank in the country?
Either way as she will be past the dual circulation date, she will have to exchange it.
Which do you thing would be the wisest-or will it matter?
Kim
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Post by 'Guest' on Oct 21, 2001 22:16:40 GMT -5
maybe i'm missing something, but as i understand it all, for the forints, it wouldn't matter. hungary has no plans to join the eurosystem anytime soon. for the Escudos, if she gets to portugal by the end of february, escudos will still be good. (but, she'd need to spend them before march, or they'd be no good)
isn't that right?
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Post by Kim on Oct 21, 2001 22:51:14 GMT -5
I just thought that since she said she would be in Portugal in late Feb. and as the dual conversion is the 28th, there might not be time. I guess if they are spent by then, they will be fine.
Yep, you are right on the forints-no problem there!
I meant to tell you (this is for "me") after you emailed-there isn't any spam involved if you did decide to become a registered user of this board. As far as I know, I am the only one that has access to all the email addresses and I would never give them out. (I'm so anti-spam it's not funny!)
Plus, if you were registered I could give you a cool title for under your name as you are very helpful on these boards. (See Snorkelman's posts for an example-his say "Travel Guru" under his name)
K
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Post by nitsansh on Oct 23, 2001 17:31:47 GMT -5
You better take the Portuguese money even if you get there in March. You would be able to exchange it to Euros in banks until June 30th. See www.euro.ecb.int/en/section1/timetable.PT.htmlHungary is not joining the Euro for at least few years, and Forints remain the only legal currency there.
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Post by nitsansh on Oct 24, 2001 2:07:05 GMT -5
Banks don't exchange coins of foreign currency. It's allways a good idea to get rid of all coins before you leave a country, unless you want to keep them as souvenirs, or intend to return there soon. Also you better exchange money before going out, you usually get a better rate. Especially money of small countries.
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Post by Cat on Oct 24, 2001 7:19:31 GMT -5
In the countries which are converting to the Euro, you can bring your coins to the banks. This is only for local coins and I think you'll need an acount with that bank, they won't pay you cash.
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Post by nitsansh on Oct 24, 2001 7:53:25 GMT -5
I don't know about this... Banks normally exchange currency for anyone, no matter if he/she has an account there. I see no reason for this. As I understand, banks are required by law (or regulations) to change local currency to Euro. They're not supposed to make profit on it, there's a fixed exchange rate for Euro. However, countries may have various policies, and it's worth checking.
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Post by 'Guest' on Oct 24, 2001 11:26:33 GMT -5
the banks, understandably, will be less inclined to take legacy currency after the euro notes & coins are in circulation. central banks will keep taking them for years, but, who wants to march down to the central bank to switch money?
after the "dual-circulation" is over, i don't think a bank would be willing to do this for a non-customer, and that would be as a customer service - for good will. all of eu is a capitalist entity. would banks do such "good will" for tourists? i think not!
- d
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Post by nitsansh on Oct 24, 2001 14:46:37 GMT -5
I think we better not "think" and try to find out the facts... My understanding of the official site I mentioned above is that banks are required to exchange national currency to Euro till June 30th (in the case of Portugal) because the authorities dictate they do so. Even in capitalist market countries there are laws that regulate trade and commerce. I don't see why there should be discrimination between regular customers and others.
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Post by nitsansh on Oct 24, 2001 14:56:13 GMT -5
I suggest to send E-mail to the central bank of Portugal info@bportugal.pt
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Post by Cat on Oct 25, 2001 1:18:02 GMT -5
okay, the facts.... I could give you the dutch site for the euro 'www.uero.nl' , but I don't think that will be of much use to y'all americans/canadians and other foreigners. I dropped a question at the dutch site, so I hope I can give you a webpage with English information about the Euro ASAP.
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Post by Cat on Oct 25, 2001 1:18:53 GMT -5
whoops..... that should be 'www.euro.nl'
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Post by nitsansh on Oct 25, 2001 1:36:12 GMT -5
I don't suppose the Dutch bank has info on Portugal...
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