Irish cling to 'old money' as €372m still unaccounted for

SEVEN 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 By the end of 2002 and the first year of the euro, 90 per cent of Irish pounds had been withdrawn from circulation.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