# Another possibly dumb question..."retiring" Euro currency?



## BarbTF (Apr 29, 2019)

When I visited England a few years ago I ran into a situation where the UK currency I had had been "retired" and the only way to be able to use it was to turn it in at a bank for the new bills (or possibly it was too late even to do that.) I discovered this when I went to use it to buy a coffee--no big deal since it wasn't much money, just a bill or two left over from an earlier trip to England.

Right now I've got a couple hundred Euros in cash that I got prior to a trip in, I think, October 2018. It could have been a year or two before that, even. (I don't tend to use much cash when I'm traveling and I exchanged way too much!) I'm currently packing up for my trip to head out tomorrow, and I had a sudden panicked thought that maybe they had also been "retired".

Those would still be valid to use, right? Gosh I hope so or I'm out a couple hundred bucks!


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## tardigrade (May 23, 2021)

though not the best price, exchange at the aeroport before you go.


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## Keri22 (Jun 12, 2010)

BarbTF said:


> When I visited England a few years ago I ran into a situation where the UK currency I had had been "retired" and the only way to be able to use it was to turn it in at a bank for the new bills (or possibly it was too late even to do that.) I discovered this when I went to use it to buy a coffee--no big deal since it wasn't much money, just a bill or two left over from an earlier trip to England.
> 
> Right now I've got a couple hundred Euros in cash that I got prior to a trip in, I think, October 2018. It could have been a year or two before that, even. (I don't tend to use much cash when I'm traveling and I exchanged way too much!) I'm currently packing up for my trip to head out tomorrow, and I had a sudden panicked thought that maybe they had also been "retired".
> 
> Those would still be valid to use, right? Gosh I hope so or I'm out a couple hundred bucks!


Your Euro notes from 2018 should be ok. I ran into a similar problem with Swedish krona because they Swedish government changes the notes rather frequently.


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## boilerman (May 16, 2010)

Not a dumb question at all, as it got me thinking. 
Seems they're ok to use

Old Euro Banknotes, Are they Still Valid, Till When, How to Exchange? | Winngie


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Ah yes, another trans-Atlantic "culture shock" - the US always says that they will accept legal US tender forever, while most countries over on this side of the Pond periodically change over their currency. But the euro has only been around in cash form for about 20 years now. Nothing has been "retired" (yet) so you should be OK.


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