The deadline to exchange the old Spanish currency expired on June 30 this year
In the month before Spain introduced the single European currency (Euro) in January 2002, some 48,750 million euros or 96.8 per cent of the pesetas in circulation had been exchanged for other currency, but still, after all these years, 3.2 per cent of the old money remains unchanged. That amounts to 793 million bills and 782 million coins.
The largest volume of pesetas was reportedly exchanged in the first six months of the life of the euro, between January and June of 2002. During that period, in which the old Spanish currency could be exchanged both at the Bank of Spain and at credit institutions, 94.5 per cent of the pesetas circulating at the end of 2001 were exchanged.
The period allowed to change pesetas officially ended in December 2020, but this was extended until June last year due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Now however, it’s too late for the old currency to be exchanged for the euro, so all of the notes and coins left in circulation, are nothing more than a remembrance of days gone by or a collector’s curiosity.
Image: Archive
Source: Murcia Today
