Xs and Os more important than Euros?

[dyrl]

A most fascinating story for monetary policy buffs - (I admit to being one):

www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/06/13/cneuro113.xml

So it seems that there remains a way to differentiate currencies even amongst Euros.

From the point of view of the Euro - this was a stupid move: there should be no way to tell if the Euro is produced in Spain or in Germany.

From the point of view of regular folks - this is quite fascinating. I wonder what one Spanish Euro is trading for then?

Because obviously the quantity of Euros marked with an X is not equal to the quantity of Euros marked with, say, an S.

Ergo - at some point - although 1 Euro is worth 1 Euro - it won't actually be

If enough people wanted to trade their "S" Euros for "X" Euros, then eventually a price discrepency between S and X Euros would emerge - although it would technically be "illegal" (since 1 Euro by law is 1 Euro")...

But by that same token - nothing says I can't exchange my X Euros for S Euros

Just goes to show how difficult it is to actually introduce a trans-national currency.

Personally, I would have prefered that there be no Euro; I was just fine with Europe having a diverse pool of currencies.

If the central bank in one country went crazy and government policy debauched a country's currency, people had recourse to other currencies.

If there is every a Euro-crisis then there is no recourse to anything else...

Anyways - this article is very fascinating

Pete

[Deleted]

Money is always a problem in life. There are some shops in England that won't accept Scottish notes although I can't see what the problem is. If its a piece of paper that says £10 on it who cares whether it was minted by the Royal Bank of Scotland or the Bank of England.

[dyrl]

That's why credit cards are the best

Pete

[legios]

Jun 15, 2008 15:25:06 GMT @zudobug said:

Money is always a problem in life. There are some shops in England that won't accept Scottish notes although I can't see what the problem is. If its a piece of paper that says £10 on it who cares whether it was minted by the Royal Bank of Scotland or the Bank of England.

Well, technically Scottish bank notes are not "coin of the realm" in a sense of being legal tender (in England). The only institution authorised by the Crown to mint money in England and Wales is the Bank of England, and as Scottish notes aren't produced by the Bank of England they don't have a legal status _as_ money - no more than a piece of paper that says £10 on it in felt-tip. In practice this isn't generally a problem - I've used Scottish money as far south as York without appreciable difficulties.(and in a corner shop and hotel bar in London a few years back - the only place I had a problem was the British Museum) But in theory there is no obligation on anyone in England to accept them.

Karl

[The Doctor]

Still annoys the hell out of me though. After all, there's no problem using English notes north of the border.

-Ralph

[Andy Turnbull]

Jun 15, 2008 18:26:20 GMT The Doctor said:

Still annoys the hell out of me though. After all, there's no problem using English notes north of the border.

-Ralph

Don't give Alex Salmond and that shower of fuckwits any ideas!

Andy

[Andy Turnbull]

The only time I've ever had any bother with Scottish notes was with a taxi driver in Manchester when we went down for a Hubday. The fact that it was a twenty pound note and he wouldn't use it for change but put it directly in the bank meant I wasn't willing to take it back. In the end he relented after much, much verbal on my behalf.

Andy