Germans are being offered a shopping trip down memory lane as the Kaufland supermarket chain run a January promotion for shoppers to pay with the old German currency that went out of circulation on January 1, 2002, along with the rest of the national currencies of the Euro zone.
While the currency ceased being legal tender, the German government never set an expiration date for exchanging it for Euros, although the other countries did. Whether from procrastination, nostalgia, admiration for old coin designs or even political reasons, an estimated 54% of Germans still have some old coins or bills lying around, or under their sofa cushions.
That adds up to about 24 billion coins and 168 million notes that are still out there, with a total value of over €6 billion. The stores, which will be dressed up with 1960s decor for the month, will be accepting it at the last exchange rate of 1.95DM to 1 Euro, and will, of course, trade it in to the central bank for "modern" currency."
For more on this story, see TheLocal.de HERE. For a longer view, from the Wall Street Journal, click HERE,
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