Euro to debut Jan. 1 throughout western Europe

Jan. 1, 2002 will be more than just the New Year in most of Europe. It will mark the birth of new currency, the euro, in all the western European countries.

The exceptions will be England, Denmark and Switzerland, which have elected to retain their national currencies, at least for the time being.

There will be some overlap in currencies. For example, in France the franc will continue to be legal until Feb. 17, when all transactions will be made in euros.

Exchanging francs

The traditional francs will be able to be exchanged for Euros in commercial banks only until June 30.

After this date the franc will be history and found only in dusty numismatic shops and forgotten drawers. Actually, French currency can be exchanged at Banque de France offices for ten years into the future.

Euro coins will be in denominations of 1-50-cent pieces and bills in 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 euro denominations.

Both coins and bills will have one "European" face common to all countries and one "National" face that will feature a national landmark or typical scene. The symbol adopted for the euro is a stylized Greek letter Epsilon.

Europeans seem to be largely unaware of this momentous change.

A recent survey found that 80 percent of consumers were unable to remember prices in euros, which have been posted for almost a year, and one in five polled did not understand that their former currencies would be eliminated by the new coinage.

Stored currency

Will the shift go smoothly? Probably. The mints and presses of Europe are prepared and a large stock of the new currency is already in storage.

The six-week turnover time should give citizens time to adjust to the new money, with some expected grumbling, and the short exchange time will encourage rapid distribution in consumers pocketbooks.

Reprinting

It will, of course, require reprinting of menus, metro tickets and other items with prices imprinted, but much of this has already been done in advance.

As travel agents, we would recommend that you take a quick trip to Europe so that you can use up all those francs and lira and drachmas you have left from previous trips.

Paying for your purchase in Europe will never feel quite the same if you're paying in euros. Besides, prices are good, and you wouldn't want them to go to waste.

(Linda and Dr. Don Overend are principals in The Travel Group, a full-service travel agency formed by the merger of Ozark World Travel, Con-sulting Travel and Thomas Travel.)