Florence Friday: Currency

Today's post is about money!


Fifteen years ago, on December 16th, 1995, the word "euro" popped up on the map, terrifying coin collectors all across the globe.


Four years later, 17 countries switched over to the euro in January of 1999, and by June 2002, those currencies completely passed out of use.  They became what I would call "dead money".  (and no, I'm not referring to Fallout. =P)


I am one of those coin collectors.  My auntie used to be a traveling nurse when I was younger, and she'd bring me money (my favorites are coins) from each of the countries that she had worked in.

I still have it all.  And I have it organized.  =)

I actually think I have a bill of 1000 Lira from my uncle, although I could not tell you why he had Lira after coming over from the Philippines.  >.<


Anyway, one of my concerns when I travel abroad is obviously going to be the exchange rate.  From what it sounds like, the change over to the euro was smoother for some countries than for others.  Italy is among those countries where the euro doesn't seem to be pulling its weight.  I'm willing to bet that some countries are going to start reverting back to their original currency if the euro can't keep up.

Don't ask me why this screenshot is from the future.  

But it you ask me, it looks like the euro is doing just fine.


HOWEVER, I claim no expertise or background on country economics.  I tried reading up on exchange rates, and all the reasons why they began the euro in the first place, and I just do not get the concept of supply and demand, or reserve currency, or price parity.  Perhaps if I took a little more time to learn than the brief research I do for these posts, I could understand it more.


But to be honest, though the euro seems like this great concept and all (what with the benefit for tourism within the EU), I just don't know if it's the best concept for that area.  It necessitates a more "nationalized" economy, and each country still seems to retain its own economy, and I wonder if this isn't the reason why some countries seem to be struggling and wanting to withdraw. (Or, it could be a reason totally unrelated to the euro...)


As a coin collector, I'd love to have been able to visit each European country and had to endure the different exchange rates in order to obtain coins as unique and covered in history (dirt!) as the ones I posted above.  But I may have to wait for the euro to fizzle out in order for that kind of currency to return (if it ever does).


So in the meantime...
One of the cool things I think they did with the euro was allow each country to have it's "own" currency still, which essentially means that they can have "country-specific" pictures on the reverse side of the coins.

It still means I can collect euros from separate countries!

In the end,
all I really need to concern myself over is hoping that American dollar gets stronger in the next two years.  Otherwise my tuition for graphic design school over there is going to be WAYYY more expensive than I planned...and that may mean that I have to save my American dollars much longer before I can study abroad.

How else am I going to be able to afford this city?