Can anyone tell me what i can expect from pocket change when im in Rome/Vatican city, and other parts of central Italy? like, will i see a good mix of other countries euro? or is it like a large percentage of just local country euro? are some of the 8 denominations more common than others?...will it be tough to get all 16 in my case. i guess i can always ask the cashier's for change back a certain way. haha obviously i won't see any lira circulating...(i do have some already, and a coin from vatican city) but nonetheless...im curious to know ahead of time. thanks
You will not have any problem getting the 8 Italian euro values. As you will find a lot of tourists in Rome it will be easy to get more euro coins from some other countries in the European Union, like Germany or France. Don't expect to get any Vatican coins, as you will only find them in sets :-| . What do you mean with "all 16"? I can't guess exactly the most common denominations. Maybe 50 cents and 1 euro. But as I said, you will not have any problem to get the 8. No lira circulating. But you may buy some them as souvenirs in some numismatic shops. They may be cheap.
And what is more, I'm not sure about this, but it is quite possible that if you go to the central bank office, you may get coin rolls. I heard it is near Termini station. You may confirm this. When I said that you may get a lot of coins from other countries I meant that you can get, let's say, four out of five Italy coins, and one out of five from abroad (just guessing).
You will NOT find Italian euro's with the new European side, as Italy (but Austria and Portugal as well, together with San Marino and the Vatican) will change the European side only from 2008. The other eurozone countries did change the European side of the 10,20,50 eurocents and 1 and 2 euros already this year. Note they are diffult to find yet. At the moment I only encountered only 1 new 20 eurocents from Germany in circulation. I live in Belgium, but I didn't find any new Belgian eurocoins in circulation (except for the commemorative Treaty of Rome 2 eurocoin)
As it was the first post for Niit476 I thought he was not refering to the new European side. But you bart is right, it is very difficult to find any of those in circulation. I haven't found any of them in circulation. But I meant that the common sides will be easy for him.
Who knows - that 16 may also refer to the number of countries that issue euro coins (13 EU member states plus the three others). And yes, the larger denominations tend to "travel" across Euroland more easily than the smaller ones ... Christian
Thanks for the input. the 16 was just referring to the 8 italian euro coins + the 8 vatican coins. apparently i won't be seeing any from the vatican unless i buy them in a set. hm...too bad, i was hoping they circulated. hopefully i'll get a good mix of other countries who are using the euro...and ill try to step into a couple numismatic shops in rome while walking around if i have time.
