Five surprising things about the euro

Do two cent coins have a future? Why go on a pilgrimage to Spijkenisse (Holland)? Can Estonian crowns be changed? Here are some unknown aspects of the euro, which is celebrating its twentieth birthday.

National currencies

All national currencies that preceded the euro they did not disappear. Only in Berlin and in the neighboring region of Brandenburg – between January and the end of November 2021 – some 2.63 million German marks were exchanged, that is, about 1.35 million euros.

The Bundesbank assumes that, nationally, there are still cash assets worth around DM 12.35 billion (€ 6.13 billion).

Some are kept by collectors, others are surely abroad, as the mark was for a long time a prized reserve coin.

There is no limit for the exchange of coins and banknotes from the old German national currency in euros, as for that of Austria, Ireland and the three Baltic countries.

Italy since 2011, France and Greece since 2012 no longer take their old currencies.

The endangered “500”

Since 2019, the production of 500 euro banknotes ceased by decision of the European Central Bank (ECB). In addition to low daily use, the ticket was suspected of facilitating illegal transactions.

However, payment is still allowed with a 500 euro note issued between 2002 and 2019, and in November some 376 million purple notes were still circulating.

The issue of cessation of production of the smallest 1 cent and 2 cent euro area coins regularly comes back on the agenda as these pieces are expensive to produce.

Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Finland and Italy have already opted for its phasing out, asking traders to round off the additions.

0 euro banknotes

It is the size, color, and pattern of a US banknote. ECB. The zero euro banknote appeared in 2015 and is very popular with collectors.

The French businessman Richard Faille had the idea of ​​creating tickets sold as souvenirs for tourists: on one side they have a site or a monument (Eiffel Tower, Mont Saint Michel, etc …) and on the other a zero followed by the euro sign , remembering that they have no value.

Attached by the ECB, these banknotes are printed with the same technical characteristics as euros: watermark, security thread, inks, hologram and even individual security number. The similarity is striking, but the paper used differs from that of the real banknotes.

From the virtual to the real

Imaginary architectures rather than existing monuments illustrate the euro banknotes. As bridges do not exist, a graphic designer, the Dutch Robin Stam, decided to build them.

The municipality of Spijkenisse, near Rotterdam, gave him the green light. From the 5 to the 500 note, the seven “euro bridges” now attract tourists to this Dutch municipality of some 70,000 inhabitants.

Paperwork for bundles

In Europe the transport of 10,000 euros or more in cash, coming or going abroad, must be declared at customs. A man making a trip between France and Spain was intercepted in April by Perthus customs officers, who found 388,460 euros hidden in 25 socks while checking his German-registered van.

In 2020, German customs recorded 13,335 declarations for the total sum of 31,000 million euros, that is, an average of 2.3 million euros per declaration.