Ten-figure sums of euros still circulating in pesetas
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 @ 8:41 PM
NEARLY 1.7 billion euros in pesetas are still stashed in houses throughout the country, according to the Bank of Spain.
Some 874 million euros' worth of the old currency, which was phased out in early 2002, are in notes and 807 million in coins.
Last year alone, the Bank of Spain changed 16 million euros – 2,662 million pesetas – and in July this year, two million euros were handed out in exchange for 333 million of the former currency.
Around 45 per cent of pesetas as yet unchanged will never be handed in, since they are being kept by collectors, small notes or coins held by Spaniards as 'souvenirs', or are deteriorated or out of the country – many are believed to be in purses and wallets of one-time tourists to Spain who kept them as a collector's item due to their minimal value if exchanged, and some hang onto their coins and notes believing that one day they may be worth a lot more money than their face value.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com