Irish cling to 'old money' as ?372m still unaccounted for
Arizona Coin Collector
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2009/0102/1230842350536.html
Irish Times
Friday, January 2, 2009
Irish cling to 'old money' as ?372m still unaccounted for
MARIE O'HALLORANSEVEN YEARS after the
introduction of euro
notes and coins, ?372 million worth of "old money" or
pre-euro Irish pounds remains unaccounted for.
The Central Bank expects that most of it will never be
redeemed - the notes and coins have been either lost or
kept as souvenirs.
Behind the wallpaper, in a skip, under the mattress, at
the back of the couch, buried in the garden - these are
some of the locations where those precious pounds have
been discovered. They can still be redeemed for euro at
the Central Bank on Dublin's Dame Street.
According to bank officials, about 150 people arrive
every week to exchange their old - and no longer legal
tender - Irish pounds for euro.
Since the introduction into daily use of the currency on
January 1st, 2002, people are still exchanging their
pounds but in ever decreasing amounts. The money changed
has varied from 20 cent to ?30,000, according to one
source, but the Central Bank's press office stresses that
"very rarely" are such large amounts redeemed. "The
average payment is ?500 or less" and it can come from
anywhere.
"People are finding money on the death of an elderly
relative, who may have held on to the old notes," says
a spokeswoman.
"They have found money behind wallpaper, in skips,
buried in gardens. Someone buys a house and digs the
foundations for a new conservatory and finds a container
with old money."
Sometimes visitors to the country, who were last in
Ireland when the pound was legal tender, return for
holidays and pop in to change the old money they had
from the previous trip.
At the end of 2001, before the advent of euro notes and
coins, just under ?4.732 billion worth of pounds was in
circulation. By the end of 2002 and the first year of
the euro, 90 per cent of Irish pounds had been withdrawn
from circulation.
This left just under ?463 million worth of old pound
notes and coins out there.
By the end of 2007, ?375 million in old money remained
unaccounted for. That year the public redeemed ?4.3
million in old money compared to ?5.4 million in 2006
and ?2.9 million up to the end of November 2008.
The notes handed in are "chopped up and recycled",
while the coins are melted down to their constituent
metals for reuse.
While the old pound is no longer legal tender, it is
still valid and the Central Bank of Ireland will
continue indefinitely to redeem the face value of
pound notes and coins.
Further information is available from (01) 4344234
or at www.centralbank.ie/ncn_exch.asp
..
Mike Marotta
wrote:
> FROM:http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2009/0102/1230842350536...
> Sometimes visitors to the country, who were last in
> Ireland when the pound was legal tender, return for
> holidays and pop in to change the old money they had
> from the previous trip.
I expect that a large fraction of that is, indeed, here in the USA
with collectors and with "professional Irishmen" who did the Republic
of Eire a huge favor by bringing in paper dollars and taking out
pounds in the form of penny coins.
You can see that in the mintage figures. The little island republic
never needed to make coins every year, but they could not make enough
pennies.
Mike M.
Michael E. Marotta