my stash of currency from foreign countries
Do you save foreign currency from your travels? I try to only save currency from countries that I’m pretty sure I’ll be returning to – such as Euros, British Pounds and Mexican Dollars – but still I seem to have quite a collection of bills and coins from a multitude of countries from Peru to South Africa to India to a little bit of everything in between.
Saving currency such as the Euro, United Kingdom and Mexico always seemed to make sense to me because that way I’ll have enough to get started on arrival. But even that isn’t as necessary these days with so many places accepting payment by credit card.
Fast forward. This trip included five days in the United Kingdom (Liverpool and Manchester) where the British Pound is accepted as well as seven days in countries that use the Euro (Ireland, France and the Netherlands). I had last been in the UK about 5 years ago. Before this trip, I diligently rummaged through my little stash of currency and found £35 and €150. Perfect, right?
On our first full day in Liverpool, Dave was buying a shirt and I generously offered to buy it for him. I handed the cashier some pounds from my purse and she handed them back to me saying this money is no good. I was dumbfounded. This wasn’t some remote country that frequently changed its name and government – this was the United Kingdom! To my surprise, I later learned that the UK had recently introduced new currency – both bills and coins – and that my pounds were no longer considered legal tender.
Your money is no longer good here. (Image by cosmix from Pixabay)
I asked at my hotel how I could get my money changed for new currency. No one seemed to know. I went to a few banks and didn’t get anywhere. I felt like I was going around in circles. Finally, someone said to go to the Post Office.
I found the Post Office and waited on line and sure enough they were able to give me new currency for my old money. Who knew?
The post office in Manchester, UK
So, if you’ve been saving up British Sterling for a future trip to the United Kingdom, know that it is no longer legal tender. Go to the Post Office and get it exchanged for new currency. As for other trips where you are holding currency, perhaps you want to google whether your saved money is still viable.
Happy travels.
A New York frequent flyer who elegantly combines her passions for worldwide travel, running a gazillion marathons all over the globe and staying fit ... without sacrificing her fancy for good wine and food.
That’s good to know, that old Pounds can be exchanged at post offices. I’m headed to the UK soon and have some pound notes that I’ll be taking.
Mexican Dollars?? 🙂
I try to save one bill and one coin as souvenirs. Otherwise I try to spend all my local currency before leaving. If I’m unable to do so or forget about what’s in my wallet, I’ll hold onto the currency of countries I plan to visit again and exchange that from countries that I don’t or whose currency is not stable. It can be difficult, however, to find a bank or exchange to take some currencies. I’m sitting on about $100 worth of Tajikistan Somonis right now!
I had a bunch of it from everywhere: China, Singapore, Australia, HK, Switzerland, the UK and of course euro.
I was recently in Wroclaw, Poland and found something pretty interesting: Cent Kantor Exchange on Świdnicka Street will exchange almost any currency for Polish zloty at the current inter-bank rate, no commissions. They have a website that lists the rates and make sure you get a picture of it because upon my first trip, they offered the rate on their board inside but their website says you can “ask for the internet rate” which I did (I had screenshots and had my phone calculator at the ready).
I got rid of everything except the pounds and euro as I’ll use those bills eventually, and the HK dollars, which they would not as the bills I have are too old and I can only exchange them in HK, so they said, which is ok because I’ll be back there in 2024 likely.
I actually had been carrying quite an assortment around and allowing it to accumulate in my backpack for years before finding that place.
I used the zloty to pay for meals and shopping during my two weeks in Poland. If you ever go to Wroclaw, I recommend you get rid of your whole stash at that place and then spend the zloty while in Poland (which I also recommend).
Thanks for this information. I was in Gdansk earlier this year. I wonder if they have this service too.
The Bank of England in London (EC1?) exchanges old paper money. The 1 pound coin is no longer any good. The Bank of England does not exchange coins.
Countries with high inflation are poor candidates to save money. Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and India are among countries that demonetize money.
I keep only Japanese yen, Singapore dollars, Australian dollars, Euros, New Taiwan Dollars, and Canadia dollars. I have some old UK pound sterling.
Thanks for this information. I think I’m going to go through my “old” foreign currency and see what can be salvaged.
I was traveling regularly to India on business in the 2000’s, my last trip was in late 2010. Earlier this year my wife went to India for the first time on a business trip. I was excited for her to use the few thousand ruppies I had leftover, even though they had lost half their value to devaluation. Well we found out the hard way that India demonetized their bills in 2016, and there is no way to convert the money at all.
I guess you should use up, convert or donate your foreign currency when leaving the country…
Had some in Scotland told st bank need an account so left some as tips and debt the rest to our friend in UK