Have the old national banknotes and coins completely disappeared in favor of the euro?
In total, 20 years after the birth of the community currency, more than 13 billion species are still kept by their holders, without them being of any use to them.
To discover
The 2021 Christmas bonus will be paid from December 15
Read also 20 years ago, the euro settled into wallets
This is what the figures of the American media Bloomberg reveal, which has listed by country the number of national species ever converted in Europe.
Germany is thus at the top of the ranking with 6.3 million Deutsche Marks.
If they can no longer pay with it, the Germans still have the possibility of exchanging them.
The country still allows its coins and banknotes to be exchanged for euros, as the Bundesbank does not wish to set a deadline.
However, this did not motivate their holders since the sum of the old currency amounted to 6.5 billion in 2017.
726 million francs
Conversely, it is impossible in France where the exchange ended on February 17, 2012 at midnight.
“Beyond that, they will have no other value than that which collectors will want to grant them on the numismatic market
,
”
explained the Banque de France to encourage the French to convert their money. However, 726 million francs still exist, according to the Bloomberg census. This corresponds to
"55 million banknotes of different face values"
, explained a Banque de France bulletin on euro exchanges, dating from 2017. In total, 1.5 million banknotes were reported between September 1, 2011 and February 17, for a total value of 378 million francs (€ 57.6 million).
The 500-franc notes were exchanged against 76.22 euros, those of 200 francs against 30.49 euros or even those of 20 francs against 3.05 euros.
Read also20 years of the euro: has the single currency contributed to the surge in prices?
Even if they are no longer exchangeable, francs can still bring euros back to their owners.
On eBay, for example, there is a set of five banknotes of 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 francs sold for nearly 50 euros or even a 50 franc note at 10.50 euros (i.e. 3 euros more than the amount paid in exchange by the Banque de France before February 17).
1.6 billion pesetas
The Spaniards occupy, them, the second place of the Bloomberg ranking with 1.6 billion pesetas kept.
The country put an end to the currency change late, setting the deadline for June 30, 2021 and causing long lines in front of the Bank of Spain.
But so many eventually decided to collect these worthless species, or forgot to do so.
They are followed by the Italians who still own the equivalent of 1.6 billion lire.
