Euro questions

Adam, Adrian, Frances and Kit talk euros

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Frances Tuke of the Association of British Travel Agents and Kit Juckes of the Royal Bank of Scotland answer your euro questions.

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Many of you must be sitting on thousands of pounds of foreign currency if our mailbag is any guide.

So the most popular question first: What can you do with your leftover holiday money?

Frances: "There are a few things you can do with it. But the best idea is to get rid of it as soon as possible.

"You can change it into sterling now, into euros after January or give it away. There are plenty of charities willing to take your change."

Among the charities collecting old European coins are Unicef, Macmillan Cancer Relief, Save the Children, Christian Aid and The British Institute for Brain Injured Children.

For a full timetable of the euro's introduction take a look at www.euro.ecb.int

Mike Booth says: "I am jetting off to France early in the New Year for a skiing holiday.

"Can I buy euros now or will I have to wait until January 2002? And if so, where can I get the best euro/pound deal?

Kit says: "The best place to exchange your pounds for euros shouldn't be any different to the best place you used to change francs.

"Personally I wait to visit a hole in the wall wherever I am so I don't have to carry too much cash with me."

Paddy Brough needs help. He says: "I have a French bank account and will soon have to write cheques in euros. Are the bits below 100 still called centimes?"

Kit says: "They are cents, much the same as they are in the States."

Wendy Skitt wants to know how the weight and size of the new coins compares with our £1 coin, and is there a potential for problems with coin machines?

Frances says: "No consumers have seen the coins yet, but I suspect and hope that the central banks have thought of this."

Nigel Harrison asks: "My wife and I want to buy land in Spain and the plot is marked in pesetas.

"Is it worth changing sterling into pesetas and then into euros or should I wait until the New Year and exchange sterling directly into euros?"

Kit says: "There is no difference between buying pesetas now and buying euros in the future, except for any change in the exchange rate between the euro and the pound over that time.

"My best advice would be to keep it simple. You can open a euro account in Spain today and that will avoid confusion. That is probably the best bet."

Mike in the Netherlands asks if he should he move his savings account to the UK.

He's concerned he'll lose out because of the weakness of the euro if his savings are converted to euros.

Kit says: "The euro has existed since 1 January 1999, and mostly it has been weakening over that period.

"I don't think the arrival of the notes and coins is any reason to think that it will automatically decline further.

"In fact it could be quite the opposite. There is an importance in people's psyche to having physical notes and coins."

John Passey is confused by where the euro symbol should appear in a price - before or after the amount. He has collected a number of labels in which it moves from the front to the middle to the end of the price. Where should it be?

Where does the euro symbol belong?

Frances says: "It should appear at the start of the price and if it is written should always be in lower case."

Graham Alcock in Swansea is a retailer and wants to accept euro cash from his customers.

He also wants to show dual pricing based on the exchange rate. Is this legally allowed?

Kit says: "There is no reason why he can't but he should check with his local bank to make sure they will take the money off him."

Jan Dreger is looking for a handy conversion card to convert pounds to euros.

Working Lunch viewer Roy Goodwin has a suggestion.

He says the ratio of euros to pound is approximately the same as that of kilometres to miles, namely eight to five.

Now you already have a handy converter for that in your car - the speedometer.

The problem remains - how to get the vehicle through the shop door!