h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi,

I believe that the other currencies do not cease to exist until 1st March 2002. Stores will still accept legacy currency until this time but can only give change in Euro (How else would they get it out of circulation?).

Another point that is of interest is that the Euro (notes and coins) is not legal tender until the 1st of January and before that it is worthless and thus not insurable, but you are going to have to have it on your premises before that date ... I see trouble ahead !

Mat

I don't think it's March, AFAIK there are only six weeks of trading in both pre-existing currencies and the new Euros, which would mean that old currencies become illegal in the middle of February. But that does mean that for those six weeks the systems in place have to be capable of handling both currencies. It mostly only affects retailers though.

Each member state has set its own date for its currency to cease to be legal tender. However, banks and large retailers may continue to accept national currencies for some time after.

The precision after rounding is not '2 digits'; it is '2 decimal places' (or '1 euro cent').

Visual Basic rounds an exact half down for odd numbers and up for even numbers (or is it vice versa), the idea being to prevent statistical bias with rounding-up every 0.5. This is however a load of dingo's kidneys.

For a concrete example, here in Germany the D-Mark continues to be legal tender until the end of February 2002. Until then it is allowed to use notes and coins etc. The point being to give the public time to adjust, and change their old currency.

A fun thing is that some companies have brought out vending machines, which will stop accepting the D-Mark when they receive 'mostly' Euro coins.. (With no explanation of what 'mostly' is defined as..)

Sounds likes it's going to be fun

C.

Most systems that systems developers work on will conduct payments by bank transfer. A large number of banks (and various other payment intermediaries) are not going to allow bank transfers in legacy currencies after Jan. 1.
Of course the developer and business analyst need to check with each currency transfer vector they use.