Eurodollars and Sense

Some of us get our jollies being conversant with currency. I admit that one of my simple pleasures is the clever dropping of decimals and arranging of idiosyncratic internal formulas----ten quid is sixteen dollars, one thousand drachma is around two dollars and ninety eight cents American---that I keep in my head. I really enjoy de-planing at Gatewick with ninety p. in hand to re-fuel with a quick cup of coffee.

I have a sense of wicked superiority stemming from my ability to manage coins in multiple currencies. I am well aware that I have annoyed the dickens out of my traveling companion by shifting through francs, lire, pounds, and marks with a maternal expression on my smug face.

I'm not alone. I've seen you---the experienced traveler handing a spouse or a friend three coins and sending them along to buy their drink at the bar just like a grown-up. Our reign is over, the franc is dead, long live the Eurodollar. It's us, the snooty savvy travelers who sneer at folks struggling to grasp lire as the train speeds out of Italy who are in for a come-uppance come the millennium. Soon most tourists will only have to figure out one user friendly decimal based currency.

Now, if you are like me, you will regret the loss of power the ability to covert currency has given you over travel companions. Cheer up, your other foolish pleasure---knowing five sentences [no more, no less] in a minimum of ten languages will remain available. You can refresh your expertise in a range of languages for ordering coffee and finding toilets at http://www.travlang.com

However, the days of controlling ones companions because you can figure out five exchange rates is rapidly becoming outdated---welcome to the age of the EURO.

Effective 1-1-99 banking in Eurodollars will become possible. Don't throw out your francs yet! We are looking at a lengthy transitional process. Euro banknotes aren't slated for release until January of 2002.

Seven Euronotes in denominations of five, ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred, two hundred, and five hundred are scheduled for release. Eight coins, beginning with 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 units of a Eurodollar will be released. One and two Eurodollar coins will round out the currency.

http://europa.eu.int/euro/quest/normal/h... takes you to Quest---a site maintained by the European union that provides answers to questions about the euro.

The condensed version of what to expect is that we will probably see a period of dual currency use. Travelers heading for any member nation during the transition may reasonably expect to use both the Eurodollar and the previous local currency for awhile.

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