Can anyone think of a coin that looks like a Euro, could be called a Euro, has the number 2 (not 20 or 200) on it and be worth only 88 cents at any time during this month? If not, I think the guy in Grand Central ripped me off and played me for a fool--deservedly so, it seems. He said "Euro" after I asked him what kind of coin it was. I didn't want to argue the point because he was on the phone. I wish I wasn't so polite and considerate sometimes, it's an easy way to get scammed! Perhaps I'm in the wrong, because the Grand Central place supposedly has up-to-the-minute rates, but something felt so wrong about that. I just had to ask for more opinions.
A 2 Euro coin had a face value in US$ of ~$2.90, and a 2 Euro Cent coin had a face value in US$ of ~29¢ during the past month, according to the rates posted at www.xe.com I for one have never heard of "Grand Central Currency Exchange", and can't find such a company on a Google search. "Grand Century Terminal" appears to be a company that has currency exchange booths or kiosks at airports, similar to Deak-Perera; but typically they only deal in paper currency and won't exchange coins. What type of transaction did you have involving a single coin?.
Apologies for being vague. In NYC, we have the Grand Central that is almost always PACKED throughout the day (from rush hour and tourists and people doing shopping and more). There is a single booth that offers to trade foreign currencies to dollars and vice versa. Just one booth. So I can go with one quarter and ask for currency from another country. http://grandcentralterminal.com/pages/getpage.aspx?id=37896AE0-CD56-405C-9689-70060D145434 You wait in line and then present him what you have and have it changed.
Considering it was a single 2 euro coin, you probably got a fair price for a Currency Exchange. Most of the ones I have seen will charge a flat fee ($2 to $5) plus a percentage for the exchange. Considering the value of a single coin wouldn't even cover the flat fee at most exchanges, I'm surprised you got something for it.
The money exchange desks I'm most familiar with are at airports, and they have a minimum purchase and a flat fee on top of that. I had considered getting some pound notes (they start at five pounds and go up) at one of these exchanges for Thalia Elizabeth, but after I calculated the real cost, I quickly changed my mind. I don't do exchange desks in Canada at all, I just visit an ATM. Better exchange rate and a minimal fee, 1%, which was recently imposed by Visa, it used to be no fee at all.
