Introducing the Euro:

The Euro is the new 'single currency' of the European Monetary Union, adopted on January 1, 1999 by 11 Member States. Greece became the 12th Member state to adopt the Euro on January 1, 2001. On January 1, 2002, these 12 countries will officially introduce the Euro banknotes and coins as legal tender. The irrevocable conversion rates for the Euro, along with the last day for the individual currencies of each of the Member States is:

		Irrevocable conversion rate		Last day
1 EUR	=	40.3399 BEF		Feb. 28, 2002
	=	1.95583 DEM		Dec 31, 2001
	=	166.386 ESP		Feb. 28, 2002
	=	6.55957 FRF		Feb. 17, 2002
	=	0.787564 IEP		Feb. 09, 2002
	=	1936.27 ITL		Feb. 28, 2002
	=	40.3399 LUF		Feb. 28, 2002
	=	2.20371 NLG		Jan. 28, 2002
	=	13.7603 ATS		Feb. 28, 2002
	=	200.482 PTE		Feb. 28, 2002
	=	5.94573 FIM		Feb. 28, 2002
As of January 1, 2001
	=	340.750 GRD		Feb. 28, 2002

Euro Banknotes and Coins Calendar:

• Mid December, 2001: introduction of notes and coins.
• January 1, 2002: new currency becomes legal tender. Old currency can no longer be used for non-cash transactions, such as bank transfers and checks. The individual currencies will remain as legal tender until the dates listed below:

Country	Currency Name	Convert by
Germany	German mark	Dec. 31, 2001
The Netherlands	Dutch guilder	Jan. 28, 2002
Ireland	Irish punt	Feb. 9, 2002
France	French franc	Feb. 17, 2002
Austria	Austrian schilling	Feb. 28, 2002
Belgium	Belgian Franc	Feb. 28, 2002
Finland	Finnish markka	Feb. 28, 2002
Greece	Greek drachma	Feb. 28, 2002
Italy	Italian Lira	Feb. 28, 2002
Luxembourg	Luxembourg franc	Feb. 28, 2002
Portugal	Portuguese escudo	Feb. 28, 2002
Spain	Spanish peseta	Feb. 28, 2002

June 30, 2002 is the last day for changing old currency to Euro at any bank. Thereafter: old currency can continue to be exchanged at national central banks and some specially designated banks.

Euro Denominations:
Notes: 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5
Coins: 2, 1, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, 1

Take a look at Euro notes and coins in FXGallery

Do you have questions about the Euro?

Other useful links

• OANDA Currency Products & Euro - How OANDA's Currency Services will be changed by the introduction of Euro
• European Union - very comprehensive information on the introduction of Euro
• European Central Bank - the official new central bank of Europe
• Association for the Monetary Union of Europe - information for companies with macroeconomic and political analysis