When one euro is worth more than another

Chris

Only in Britain could people who can't count to one get jobs as economics journalists. It's a single currency, there's one of it. Not difficult is it?

Ruby Duck

Haven't read the Davos report but my guess is they're just tracking them to cover every possible eventuality.

xenophon

Chris, 12:21

Perhaps if you read the post you would realise that your comment rather misses the point.

Angus McLellan

@Chris: Truth is stranger than fiction (because fiction has to make some sense). Euro banknotes really do show the country of issue, embedded in the serial number.

Frank Sutton

Have the currency markets got wise to this?
They'll be publishing exchange rates soon!

Clear Memories

You might be right Chris, but anyone who can read can see where a Euro was issued - its written on the note!

It is but a simple step from there to assigning different values to different nations - Germany = 1 Euro, Greece = arse-wipe paper.

Fergus Pickering

No there isn't, Chris. That is the thrust of the article. Think a little harder about the nature of money. It has no intrinsic value. It is no more than a promise and you know how it is with promises.

David L

Illogical it may be. But it's a sobering portent of what will happen if the eurozone goes into meltdown.

oldtimer

In contrast to the euro-cert do they describe Greek and Irish originated currency the euro-serf?

Arthur

This story has been around for ages. If someone named the bank in question, it would be more interesting.

Robbo

If you think their is even a small chance of exchange controls being introduced, so that it becomes impossible to use euros in one country to settle euro liabilities in another, it makes sense to know how much you have of each in each country, even if they are all nominally worth the same.

Nickle

Pretty straight forward to do.

German euro accounts are back by deposits in German banks, German bonds etc.

Heartless Curmudgeon

Time to start local currenc(y/ies).

Indeed the 'serf', the 'peasant', the 'defaulter' are a good start.

But how to develop or re-establish that into REAL money now that Merv and his printing set has debased the currency as to be almost worthless?

It doesn't add up...

I think Chris should be send to Berlin armed with only Greek Euro banknotes to see he gets on with paying for restaurants, shops and hotels. I suspect he'll find that some of them consider the Y notes to be worthless, and not legal tender. X notes only, please!

Mudplugger

So how soon before they start using separate names 'for convenience', such as the EuroDrachma, EuroPunt, EuroMark, EuroFranc, EuroLira, EuroPesata etc.
There we have it - it's still all the Euro.....except it isn't. Standard EU fudge.

We did well to stay out of the Euro - we'd have done better to have stayed out of the EU - but it's not too late to leave, Dave. Just give us that referendum and we'll make it so easy for you.

Mirtha Tidville

Twas only a matter of time...

jazz606

Maybe we're looking at the end of the euro per se and ushering in a new era of Greek euros, Italian euros, German euros...etc...etc. As this becomes accepted I expect we'll find it easier to refer to them as drachmas, lira and d-marks.
Hey Ho what comes around goes around.

Michael

Anyone unfortunate to have any Euros can of course check their country of origin on a numner of sites, including this one:
http://www.bachus-merlin.co.uk/customer-support/origin-of-your-euro-note/

Frank Sutton

I've noticed the Euro rising by a couple of centimes (pfenings?) or so against the pound over the past few days. Now would this be the Deutsche-Euro or, say, the Euro-punt?

It doesn't add up...

To answer Frank Sutton's question, it would be the German backed ECB Euro.

It doesn't add up...

Why can't I post more than ten words at once?

It doesn't add up...

Most banks are demanding that Euro payments from weaker countries

It doesn't add up...

go via the ECB as guarantor: they will not accept direct payment.

It doesn't add up...

In effect the ECB is the buyer supporting the weak country currencies.

It doesn't add up...

It will face its own Black Monday in due course.

Herbert Thornton

My first thought on reading the headline was - This is reminiscent of George Orwell's memorably writing -

"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others."

But then I wondered where Euros are printed - and I discovered that Wikipedia says -

"Denominations of notes range from 5 to 500 and, unlike euro coins, the design is identical across the whole of the eurozone, although they are issued and printed in various member states."

Does this mean that Greece has been printing its own Euros? What about France? And Italy? Is it a case of all being trustworthy, but some of them being more trustworthy than others?

Which would you trust?

I think we should be told.

Jimmy R

Herbert Thornton January 28th, 2012 8:16pm. To answer your question and that of others who believe that the euro notes cannot be identified by country, the way it can be done is by simply looking at the first letter of the notes serial number. The letter E is for Slovakia, F Malta, G Cyprus, H Slovenia, I Luxembourg, L Finland, M Portugal, N Austria, P Netherlands, S Italy, T Ireland, U France, V Spain, X Germany, Y Greece, Z Belgium.
As far as how many notes are issued by each country I can only assume there is some kind of control by the ECB but I can’t be bothered to dig that deeply to find the usual eurobabble which is invariably used to obfuscate the real meaning of anything issuing from the EUSSR Politburo.

James

This isn't a new development. Some cash-based markets have been treating national denominations differently for a while now, on the expectation that one may be worth less/ more than another because of its origins.

I wish I could remember the original article's URL, but this was at least a couple of years ago!

Herbert Thornton

Jimmy R -

I share your utter distrust of Europe - not that I have much faith in the integrity of the increasingly dishonest professional politicians who run Britain.

I have no doubt that the ECB is supposed to exercise some sort of control over the numbers of Euros that member states print, but how much notice they take of the ECB has to be a mystery. Indeed, in light of many years' failure of Europe as a whole to conduct or produce audits of its business it seems to me more than likely that some countries - Greece and France in particular - have in fact always treated directives from the ECB as mere suggestions and have instead been debasing their Euros.

Cynic

There may be only one currency, Chris, but there are lots of different fiscal cultures. A recipe for disaster if ever there was one. I started checking the letter on my euros over a year ago!

John Moss

I have a 10 note in my wallet issued by a cash machine in Austria which has a serial no starting Y, ie a greek issued note.

I wonder how much cash has been exported from Greece since this thing started two years ago?

Herbert Thornton

John Moss -

My advice is - spend it while you can. And anybody who has a great many Greek Euros, might do well to look into the idea of flying to Greece, buying a Mercedes with them, and then driving home in it.