http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/travel/2012/07/hey-travelers-got-any-spare-change/ Mitzvahs are good.
Most airports in Europe have collection boxes that they collect all that loose change for humanitarian programmes in Africa.
It makes sense in more than one way to not take all that "non-domestic" money back home. First, as that article suggests, even a small or tiny donation can help if many others do the same thing. Also, getting coins exchanged (once you have left the country where they are used) becomes either quite expensive or impossible. We coin collectors may not have a single problem with giving foreign pieces a nice new home. And yet, maybe one aspect should be emphasized a little more in article written for American readers: In most countries of the world, older coins (and maybe even notes) lose their value as means of payment at some point. They are taken out of circulation, can then be redeemed for some time. At the end, the article mentions a pre-euro coin from Ireland for example - well, each euro country has its own redemption policy, and other countries (e.g. Switzerland) phase old money out as well. Bottom line: If you take such coins and notes back home as souvenirs, or because you are a collector, fine. If you know for sure that in a couple of months you will travel to that place again (or a friend goes), fine. In all other cases, that donation box is a really good place for your leftover coins, and maybe notes. Christian
