Euros!

[adriacoral]

After years of travelling in Europe I have a collection of 'small change' ie 1,2,5,10 cents I have a bagful which I don't take when we travel as it's weighty!! What does everyone do with theirs?

 

[Mikeco]

Keep carrying ours but still looking for a machine in France where you just drop them all in and get paper Euro's out.
Tried a few at the machine in the local Sainsburys but it kept spitting them out.

Mike

 

[Clive]

why not spend them?

 

[Techno]

We hand them over in a zippy bag to the first beggar we see at traffic lights before leaving France. Often over 10€ but still get a sulky face like wtf? ungrateful gits

 

[Funnymunny]

Always handy for paying for tolls or water at aires etc

 

[Techno]

Always handy for paying for tolls or water at aires etc

How would you pay for water at aires with coins so small?

 

[Funnymunny]

Depends on the machine, you can always change it for whatever you need

 

[Techno]

So you take it to a bank like 200 1 cent coins to get a €2 euro coin

 

[TheBig1]

personally I put them in a charity collecting tin back in the uk. they get the coins counted by machine and its all worth money at the end of the day

a family member used to work at a local bingo hall. they used to get all manner of non uk coins in the machines pre euro times. it was all saved up and taken to the bank once a year and the value put towards the christmas party for the staff. not usually an insignificant amount either

 

[Allanm]

You need to pop into a local boulangerie early and spend all those coins on croissants, pain au chocolat and pain. They will welcome the change and you will have breakfast sorted for your trip home.
Allan

 

[adriacoral]

Thanks all, yes would like to spend them but my handbag is heavy enough!! Have just counted all the 20's into piles and got 10 e which is fab but don't fancy putting them in my purse lol
Do banks in England take them? In France would I hv to bag them up like in uk to take them in?...

 

[TheBig1]

post office you dont need to bag them, and they accept euros

 

[kaasbroodje]

Top tip !!!

Self service tills at the hypermarkets.

We always use Carrefour in Calais, must have spent a small carrier bag full last time we visited

 

[Techno]

I don't think I could stoop to that I can imagine the thoughts of the queue while I feed in €30 of shrapnel

 

[kaasbroodje]

I'm not proud, normally get looks for my trolley of cheap wine and excessive quantity of cream cakes...

 

[Frentchy]

The way the European Union, and the Euro€ is going, I would keep them for collector items
And I'm not starting a yes- no EU referendum thread ; there's enough of them already

 

[Roryboys Dad]

The Charities Aid Foundation explains that most major charities with a High Street shopping presence will accept foreign currency on site and you can also often donate via your local Post Office Branch to Barnardo's, or at a Marks & Spencers Bureau de Change counter to Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

Big name charities that take foreign currency include Age UK (Help the Aged, Age Concern), Barnardo's and Oxfam, or contact your favoured charity to ask about donating overseas money and they should be able to help.

Or perhaps donate to UKIP!

 

[magicsurfbus]

I've been hoping to find one of those machines like in our Sainsbury's that accepts small coinage and prints a money off voucher for a small percentage fee. I haven't seen one yet in a French supermarket.

Interesting comment about UK charities taking foreign coinage - I didn't realise that.

 

[trophychap]

Well if you use P&O Ferries you can spend them over the counter and they give you the change in sterling!

So needing a couple of quid for the Dartford tunnel Jenny handed over a twenty euro note on Tuesday and ended up with £8.04 in change, looking at the receipt they have an exchange rate of 1.45 robbing gits! even worse is the machines that change your euro's into sterling they give you just 52p per euro!

We normally keep all our euro's notes and coins as we always expect we will be back over the channel before too long.

 

[Snowbird]

Spend mine on beer.