Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 18:39:41 -0500
Reply-To: TOURBUS-Request@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
Sender: The Internet TourBus - A virtual tour of cyberspace
Comments: Resent-From: crispen@netsquirrel.com
Comments: Originally-From: Patrick Douglas Crispen
From: Patrick Douglas Crispen
Subject: TOURBUS -- 9 DEC 01 -- THE EURO
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TOURBUS Volume 7, Number 36 -- 9 Dec 2001
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SIX YEARS of Searchable Archives at http://www.TOURBUS.com !!
TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP(S):
The Euro
TODAY'S TOURBUS ADDRESS(ES):
http://www.euro.ecb.int/
http://www.euro.ecb.int/en/news/presskit.html
http://www.euro.ecb.int/en/news/campaign/print_campaign.html
http://www.euro.ecb.int/en/section.html
http://www.euro.ecb.int/en/section/conversion.html
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/World/European_Monetary_Union/
http://uk.fc.yahoo.com/e/eurodebate.html
Howdy, y'all, and greetings from beautiful Irvine, California, the
basic monetary unit of Great Britain. :P
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On with the show ...
--------
The Euro
--------
While most Americans are anxiously counting the days until Christmas
vacation, I think it is safe to say that many -- if not most --
Europeans are anxiously counting the days until New Years Day. On
January 1, 2002, 300 million Europeans will begin using a new
currency: live chickens.
I'm kidding! On New Years Day, "E-Day," the citizens of 12 European
countries -- Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy,
Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain --
will (hopefully) start using a single currency, the "euro."
You can find EVERYTHING you could possibly want to know about the euro
at
http://www.euro.ecb.int/
but, if I were you, I'd skip that page and head straight to the press
kits page at
http://www.euro.ecb.int/en/news/presskit.html
instead. The press kits page has links to several PDF (Adobe Acrobat)
files that explain national changeover scenarios, euro coin and bill
design, and euro distribution plans in language that even a JOURNALIST
can understand. (GASP!)
If you want to see what the new euro notes and coins look like, take a
look at either
http://www.euro.ecb.int/en/news/campaign/print_campaign.html
or
http://www.euro.ecb.int/en/section.html .
The former is a collection of JPEG images from the print campaign on
the euro banknotes and coins, and the latter is a collection of Web
pages that provides in-depth information about features of the
individual euro banknotes and coins.
-------------------
Currency Conversion
-------------------
Beginning on New Years Day there will be a two month transition period
where national currencies like the franc, drachma, and lira can still
be used, but by 1 March 2002 euro banknotes and coins will become the
*ONLY* currency accepted in the 12 countries of the euro area
(Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Greece,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain.)
Deutsche marks will cease to be legal tender on 1 January, Dutch
guilders on 28 January, Irish pounds on 9 February, French francs on
17 February, and the eight remaining national currencies will cease to
be legal tender on 28 February.
What if you have a pocketful of guilders, escudos, and marks after 1
March? Unlike old military scrip that became worthless the moment new
money was minted, old national currencies will *NOT* lose their value.
You just won't be able to purchase anything with them.
You can, however, exchange old national currencies for new euro well
after the 1 March deadline. In fact, the 12 national central banks of
the euro area will exchange national banknotes for euro free of charge
for a minimum of ten years, and national coins for a minimum of
two years (and some really cool national central banks of the euro
area will continue to exchange national banknotes and coins well
beyond this time.)
By the way,
The conversion rate for the euro for each participating currency
is irrevocably fixed and is the only rate to be used for
conversion either way between the euro and the national currency
unit or for conversion between the national currency units.
This is nothing new, though. These rates were fixed two years ago.
You can see these fixed conversion rates, as well as the page from
where I stole that quote, at
http://www.euro.ecb.int/en/section/conversion.html .
---------
Euro News
---------
As New Years Day draws near, expect to see a *BUNCH* of news about the
euro changeover. A good place to turn for euro news culled from
numerous media outlets is Yahoo's "Euro and the European Monetary
Union" Full Coverage page at
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/World/European_Monetary_Union/ .
This page also shows the exchange rate for the euro to the US dollar,
Japanese yen, and British pound.
Yes, the British pound.
While Ireland is changing its currency to the euro, Britain is *NOT*.
The pound sterling remains the currency of Britain and will remain the
currency of Britain for the foreseeable future. This topic is the
cause of much debate, and you can follow this debate at
http://uk.fc.yahoo.com/e/eurodebate.html .
That's it for today. Have a safe and happy week, and we'll talk again
soon. :)
TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP(S):
The Euro
TODAY'S TOURBUS ADDRESS(ES):
http://www.euro.ecb.int/
http://www.euro.ecb.int/en/news/presskit.html
http://www.euro.ecb.int/en/news/campaign/print_campaign.html
http://www.euro.ecb.int/en/section.html
http://www.euro.ecb.int/en/section/conversion.html
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/World/European_Monetary_Union/
http://uk.fc.yahoo.com/e/eurodebate.html
---------------------------------
TODAY'S SOUTHERN WORD OF THE WEEK
---------------------------------
SAIL (verb). To exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent.
Usage: "We sail lottery tickets here."
[Special thanks to Donna Williams for today's wurd. According to
Donna, this week's usage quote comes word for word from a sign hanging
in a Georgia convenience store.]
You can find all of the old Southern Words of the day at
http://netsquirrel.com/crispen/word.html
Questions or comments about the Southern Word of the Week should be
addressed to crispen@netsquirrel.com (Patrick Crispen, University of
Alabama ('98)).
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