Kiss your marks good-bye
The upcoming introduction of the common European currency (the euro) seems to have divided friends and relations firmly into two groups: the yea-sayers and the nay-sayers, with the latter group ever more on the defensive as the first of January 2002 looms and resistance begins to look a bit silly.What exactly do the coinage and paper notes of the euro look like? There will be seven different bank notes (denominations range from 5 to 500) and eight coin denominations in different sizes, colors and thicknesses, according to their values, which are 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents and 1 and 2 euros (100 cents are equal to 1 euro). Each coin will have a common side, meaning that it will look the same in all 12 Member States, whereas the reverse will be country-specific (for example, in Germany the 50-cent coin will show the Brandenburg Gate, whereas the Spanish version will feature the writer Miguel de Cervantes). In reality, the varying designs are merely cosmetic, as it will be possible to use the coins throughout the 12 states, whatever the design on the flip side. The banknotes, by comparison, will have the same design everywhere.
But how will the switch from marks to euros actually work? When you are standing in the supermarket checkout line, in a post-celebratory daze, on January 2, and the cashier rings up your bill in euros, what will happen? You will calmly pay in DM (the shop assistant will tell you the amount) but you will receive change in euros. You can also take all your remaining marks to the bank and have them exchanged. If you withdraw money from a bank or cash dispenser you will be issued euros only from New Year’s Day on. The transition period in which the old currency is still accepted ends on February 28, 2002. Should you still have some Deutschmarks stashed away after this date, you can take these to the Landeszentralbank (Land Central Bank, Bavaria) at Leopoldstr. 234, open Monday to Friday from 8:15 am to 3 pm (Tel. [089] 288 95), and they will be happy to exchange them, for an unlimited period.
For anyone who wants to come to grips with the new money before the official switch on January 1, it will be possible to buy a so-called Starter Kit (this is the German name) from most banks as of December 17. In exchange for DM 20 you will receive a selection of euro coinage with which you can “practice.” Bank notes will not be available before January 1.
One of the advantages of the euro is, of course, how much easier it will make traveling across Europe. The 12 countries participating in the change are Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland. Although Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom are also members of the European Union, they will not be adopting the euro in the near future.
For anyone running a business who has not yet completed their preparations for the currency change or who is still struggling with the minutiae of the new system, the European Central Bank has an excellent Web site that not only informs visitors about the euro in general but also features a special section for businesses. Visit www.euro.ecb.int.
In case you’re wondering who dreamed up this mammoth monetary scheme, it was in fact a Canadian—Robert A. Mundell, who won the Nobel Prize for economics in 1999. Often called the “godfather” of the euro for his groundbreaking work on the single European currency in the early 1960s, Mundell put his money where his mouth is by converting part of his Nobel winnings into euros. If it’s good enough for him, we hope it will be good enough for us.
