Foreign Banknotes

[wouter]

This is my score

32 notes

Netherlands = 78.1 %
Germany = 15.6 %
Belgium = 3.1 %
Austria = 3.1 %

rest = 0

but this is only in one month (from april 15 to may 17)

I've made a new calculation over 105 notes
Nederland 79 75,2%
belgie 5 4,7 %
Griekenland 1 0,95%
Italie 1 0,95%
Duitsland 15 14,3%
Oostenrijk 3 2,9 %
Spanje 1 0,95%

[bhoeyb]

By curiosity, I've calculated the percentage of foreign banknotes I've entered so far. This is the result:
Belgium: 76,9 %
The Netherlands: 11,6 %
Germany: 6,2 %
France: 2,6 %
Austria: 1,1 %
Spain: 0,6 %
Portugal, Italy, Ireland: 0,3 %
Finland: 0,1 %
Greece: 0 %
I live (of course) in Belgium, 15 min. from Holland and 30 min. from Germany. Has someone else other %s BYE ...

This was in april.
Here the results at this moment:
Belgium: 72,417 %
The Netherlands: 13,880 %
Germany: 6,918 %
France: 3,326 %
Austria: 1,197 %
Spain: 1,064 %
Portugal: 0,266 %
Italy: 0,576 %
Ireland: 0,177 %
Finland: 0,044 %
Greece: 0,133 %
more, less than in april
So we have more and more diffusion
Now, I want more, more hits

[querty]

Here's my score:

Belgian bills: 22.91%
German bills: 13.54%
Spanish bills: 23.96%
French bills: 14.58%
Italian bills: 1.04%
Dutch bills: 22.91%
Portuguese bills: 1.04%

So I have more Spanish bills received here in Belgium than Belgian bills since I joined EBT in May. I have inserted 96 bills and I still don't have a hit.

[John S]

Here's my score:

Belgian bills: 22.91%
German bills: 13.54%
Spanish bills: 23.96%
French bills: 14.58%
Italian bills: 1.04%
Dutch bills: 22.91%
Portuguese bills: 1.04%

So I have more Spanish bills received here in Belgium than Belgian bills since I joined EBT in May. I have inserted 96 bills and I still don't have a hit.

You are the first person to post to this thread in over 1 years time. I think all of those who posted here in 2002 needs to repost and it will be interesting to see how much mixture there is now.

It will be even more interesting to see how much diffusion there will be in September after the main holiday season is over.

You have shown that the low diffusion rates seen in 2002 have been replaced by a greater balance in 2003. Hopefully, the others will show the same as you.

It will also be interesting to see what mixtures tourist receive in change or from ATMs/banks in the locations they travel to.

Also, what is the experience of using euros outside of the eurozone?

[John S]

I have been a member for a month and this is my list:

90,9 % Finland
2,3 % Germany
2,3 % Spain
1,1 % Austria
1,1 % France
1,1 % Greece
1,1 % Italy

How much has this changed since you first reported your statistics in april 2002?

Also a lot of Russians come by car just for shopping, but they prefer dollars.

I understand that since the euro has increased in value against the dollar, most Russians have replaced their preferance for dollars with a preferance for euros. Have you experienced this in your area?

What about other eastern Europeans travelling to western Europe and returning to their homes in eastern Europe; has the euro replaced the dollar as their preferred currency too?

[!Pretfles!]

What about other eastern Europeans travelling to western Europe and returning to their homes in eastern Europe; has the euro replaced the dollar as their preferred currency too?

They weren't that fond of USD in the past
they used the german Mark

with the Mark gone now they prefer euro's

I know because my father-in-law lives in Budapest and has a bussiness over there

[airis]

I have been a member for a month and this is my list:

90,9 % Finland
2,3 % Germany
2,3 % Spain
1,1 % Austria
1,1 % France
1,1 % Greece
1,1 % Italy

How much has this changed since you first reported your statistics in april 2002?

Foreign euro notes aren´t that rare anymore. Here are my latest statistics:
L = Finland 1654 / 82,99 %
X = Germany 164 / 8,23 %
U = France 49 / 2,46 %
S = Italy 26 / 1,30 %
N = Austria 24 / 1,20 %
P = Netherlands 22 / 1,10 %
V = Spain 18 / 0,90 %
Z = Belgium 14 / 0,70 %
Y = Greece 8 / 0,40 %
M = Portugal 7 / 0,35 %
T = Ireland 7 / 0,35 %

Total amount of notes 1993

Also a lot of Russians come by car just for shopping, but they prefer dollars.

I understand that since the euro has increased in value against the dollar, most Russians have replaced their preferance for dollars with a preferance for euros. Have you experienced this in your area?

Well, I don´t really know for sure. Many Russians do visit Lapland around New Year. (The Greek Orthodox Christmas is in January.) A shopkeeper told me that she had some problems when many Russians paid with 500 € notes. She had to ask them to go to bank to get smaller notes. So I think they pay with euros nowadays. But I don´t know what is the situation in Russia.

BTW Many Russians are now picking up wild berries in Finland and they get euros when they sell them. They can earn hundreds of euros which is many months salary in Russia. For example today I saw a Russian car and there were some buckets for blueberries. So they will take some euro notes to Russia with them.

[John S]

One thing I remember from some years ago was that prior to the issuing of euro notes, the eastern European Mafia was selling most of the their marks (and other currencies tied to the euro) for dollars. They were afraid that if they went to the bank to change their marks and such to euros too many questions might be asked. This mass change to dollars helped increase the value of the dollar previous to January 2002.

Most Russians and other eastern Europeans who had relatives in the US and elsewhere depended on their relatives to send them dollars to live on, thus the attraction to the dollar. Now, most of that money is no longer sent as the American relatives can't afford it or feel the Eastern European relatives should earn a living instead of depending on them for hand outs. This has forced millions to work as migrants in western Europe, earning euros. Before January 2002 many people had earned a variety of different currencies from working in different countries. Because banks in most countries only deal with major currencies, some of the curriencies had to be changed to currencies like Marks or dollars before returning home.

Now, that no matter where they go in western Europe they earn the same currency, the euro, there is no need to change to dollars, and they are now use to dealing in one single currency. Plus, when they change, they lose 3 % due to bank charges. Sticking with the euro, they now keep all of what they have earned. It will be interesting to see what happens when the 10 new countries start using the euro officially.

The greater confidence in the euro among the people of eastern Europe and the switch from the dollar to the euro has help increase its value and also to keep the euro strong. Which in turn will feed future confidence in it.

[Dakkus]

One thing I remember from some years ago was that prior to the issuing of euro notes, the eastern European Mafia was selling most of the their marks (and other currencies tied to the euro) for dollars. They were afraid that if they went to the bank to change their marks and such to euros too many questions might be asked. This mass change to dollars helped increase the value of the dollar previous to January 2002.

Most Russians and other eastern Europeans who had relatives in the US and elsewhere depended on their relatives to send them dollars to live on, thus the attraction to the dollar. Now, most of that money is no longer sent as the American relatives can't afford it or feel the Eastern European relatives should earn a living instead of depending on them for hand outs. This has forced millions to work as migrants in western Europe, earning euros. Before January 2002 many people had earned a variety of different currencies from working in different countries. Because banks in most countries only deal with major currencies, some of the curriencies had to be changed to currencies like Marks or dollars before returning home.

Now, that no matter where they go in western Europe they earn the same currency, the euro, there is no need to change to dollars, and they are now use to dealing in one single currency. Plus, when they change, they lose 3 % due to bank charges. Sticking with the euro, they now keep all of what they have earned. It will be interesting to see what happens when the 10 new countries start using the euro officially.

The greater confidence in the euro among the people of eastern Europe and the switch from the dollar to the euro has help increase its value and also to keep the euro strong. Which in turn will feed future confidence in it.

I'm sorry, but I can't hold this curiousity of mine any more. So, I gotta ask you, what is your motive for posting messages which are always written for strenghtening confidence towards euro against dollar? Considering the amount of nationalistic propaganda in the USA, I cannot understand how you can practise such an "anti-american" (as lord GWB would say) behaviour without getting lynched by your fellow americans or even the pro-american subconscious of yours. All this text you've written seems very interesting to me and has many good points. It has painted one scenario of what could happen in the world politics within the next few decades. But.. I cannot quite see the point in reading text written that clearly from one very exact point of view without even the smallest bit of objectiveness making itself seen through your skull.. So, please explain us what is the motive behind writing all the text you've written, and at least I'm a lot happier (And please excuse me this rather rude kind of inquiring of mine, as I don't mean anything bad with it. I'm just damn curious.)

[Gauss]

Let me speculate a little and talk about politics and society in the USA. In many elections it becomes clear that the US are pretty much a 50:50 society, that is to say half of the voters (and the percentage of voters among people is quite low for European standards) vote for the president/congress/whatever and half of them against. The last presidential election was particularly close; no need to discuss about Florida again.
A large part of the population, especially among intellectuals, is not exactly supportive of the current administration. They are sometimes called "liberal" and this word has a rather negative connotation if used in media or campaigns. After the 2001 attacks, administration and media launched an incredible wave of patriotism that appealed to emotions rather than reasoning. This publicity campaign was so successful that, for compassion for the killed people, for responsibility as an ally, and various other reasons, a large number of countries participated in two offensive wars (Afghanistan, Iraq). The problems in enforcing the second attack showed differences between solidarity and compliance. And in fact, two countries were punished, one by ignoring, one by boycotting.
The point is now the following. European countries still tend rather to meet the transatlantic, well, wishes than to develop own European visions. This of course makes it much easier for the current US administration to present themselves as successful world leader and, be honest, why would little Sam vote against his president, the world leader? You get my point, Dakkus?

[John S]

I'm sorry, but I can't hold this curiousity of mine any more. So, I gotta ask you, what is your motive for posting messages which are always written for strenghtening confidence towards euro against dollar? Considering the amount of nationalistic propaganda in the USA, I cannot understand how you can practise such an "anti-american" (as lord GWB would say) behaviour without getting lynched by your fellow americans or even the pro-american subconscious of yours. All this text you've written seems very interesting to me and has many good points. It has painted one scenario of what could happen in the world politics within the next few decades. But.. I cannot quite see the point in reading text written that clearly from one very exact point of view without even the smallest bit of objectiveness making itself seen through your skull.. So, please explain us what is the motive behind writing all the text you've written, and at least I'm a lot happier (And please excuse me this rather rude kind of inquiring of mine, as I don't mean anything bad with it. I'm just damn curious.)

My goodness, you sound exactly like the neo-fascists that have sprouted up in the US since the attacks in September of 2001 and again at the height of the Iraq war. Their preaching is, you wre either with us or against us, and if you are against us, you are un-patriotic and un-American. Does that sound like something emminating from the mouth of preservers of freedom? Absolutely not! It is the voice of fascism and slavery. If galls me that these neo-fascists have taken it upon themselves and set themselves up as judges to say who is a true American and who is not. I find offense in these people deciding on my behalf what is acceptable American beliefs and what is not. For this reason, I speak out against them and their ways.

One thing that can be learned from the cold war, is that relative peace is more achievable when there are two or more super-powers. The US is moving from a nation of justice, peace and freedom to nation of fascism strictly because there is no opposition. The US does what it wants without concern for anyones rights of feelings simply because there is no one strong enough (now) to oppose it. And this is very dangerous, not only for Americans themselves, but for the citizens of every country.

I feel that the only part of the world that can effectively rise and stand of to the US as a superpower is the EU. Maybe not fully at this time, but in due time the EU will be the ones to restore balance in the world.

The euro as a currency has been the only currency since the British pound that commanded as much power as the dollar. The sole use of the dollar to control the wolrds resources (dollar hegemony) has done more to impoverish people world wide then to prosper it. Whatever it takes to end the blight of dollar hegemony, I support it fully.

The main reason for the war with Iraq was to bring Iraq back to the dollar. So far that goal has failed. The euro is remaining strong and the weak dollar is causing havoc on the US economy. Without dollar hegemony, the US can not service its increasing debt and deficits. Dollar hegemony is the main reason the US assett bubble is near the point of bursting. US actions world-wide do not benefit the American people. It benefits the oligarches of Wall Street and Washington. It is time for it to come to an end.

I am motivated from what I see and experience to work for greater balance in both politics and economy on the world scene. Greater balance means greater prosperity for all and hopefully a less need for people to become terrorists (or people fighting for their rights - depending on your point of view).

The reality is, if change does not come soon, the US is going to collapse under its own mis-managements and a lot of people, world-wide are going to suffer.

And for your information, GWB is not my lord. He may think he is, but free person does not recognise him as master.

Is your curiosity satisfied?

[Dakkus]

I'm sorry, but I can't hold this curiousity of mine any more. So, I gotta ask you, what is your motive for posting messages which are always written for strenghtening confidence towards euro against dollar? Considering the amount of nationalistic propaganda in the USA, I cannot understand how you can practise such an "anti-american" (as lord GWB would say) behaviour without getting lynched by your fellow americans or even the pro-american subconscious of yours. All this text you've written seems very interesting to me and has many good points. It has painted one scenario of what could happen in the world politics within the next few decades. But.. I cannot quite see the point in reading text written that clearly from one very exact point of view without even the smallest bit of objectiveness making itself seen through your skull.. So, please explain us what is the motive behind writing all the text you've written, and at least I'm a lot happier (And please excuse me this rather rude kind of inquiring of mine, as I don't mean anything bad with it. I'm just damn curious.)

My goodness, you sound exactly like the neo-fascists that have sprouted up in the US since the attacks in September of 2001 and again at the height of the Iraq war. Their preaching is, you wre either with us or against us, and if you are against us, you are un-patriotic and un-American. Does that sound like something emminating from the mouth of preservers of freedom? Absolutely not! It is the voice of fascism and slavery. If galls me that these neo-fascists have taken it upon themselves and set themselves up as judges to say who is a true American and who is not. I find offense in these people deciding on my behalf what is acceptable American beliefs and what is not. For this reason, I speak out against them and their ways.

One thing that can be learned from the cold war, is that relative peace is more achievable when there are two or more super-powers. The US is moving from a nation of justice, peace and freedom to nation of fascism strictly because there is no opposition. The US does what it wants without concern for anyones rights of feelings simply because there is no one strong enough (now) to oppose it. And this is very dangerous, not only for Americans themselves, but for the citizens of every country.

I feel that the only part of the world that can effectively rise and stand of to the US as a superpower is the EU. Maybe not fully at this time, but in due time the EU will be the ones to restore balance in the world.

The euro as a currency has been the only currency since the British pound that commanded as much power as the dollar. The sole use of the dollar to control the wolrds resources (dollar hegemony) has done more to impoverish people world wide then to prosper it. Whatever it takes to end the blight of dollar hegemony, I support it fully.

The main reason for the war with Iraq was to bring Iraq back to the dollar. So far that goal has failed. The euro is remaining strong and the weak dollar is causing havoc on the US economy. Without dollar hegemony, the US can not service its increasing debt and deficits. Dollar hegemony is the main reason the US assett bubble is near the point of bursting. US actions world-wide do not benefit the American people. It benefits the oligarches of Wall Street and Washington. It is time for it to come to an end.

I am motivated from what I see and experience to work for greater balance in both politics and economy on the world scene. Greater balance means greater prosperity for all and hopefully a less need for people to become terrorists (or people fighting for their rights - depending on your point of view).

The reality is, if change does not come soon, the US is going to collapse under its own mis-managements and a lot of people, world-wide are going to suffer.

And for your information, GWB is not my lord. He may think he is, but free person does not recognise him as master.

Is your curiosity satisfied?

First of all, I kind of knew you were against GWB. Saying "lord GWB" was against those idiots who elected him, not the other 51% where you belong. Kind of sarcasm or something like that. BTW, there's a joke about this, too. It was somewhat popular during the War of Iraq. It goes like this: "Which president do you support in this war for democracy? The one who got all of the votes or the one who got less than half of the votes?
I just created a table about the importance of american people in elections in different states. The presidential voting system of USA goes like this: The population of each state vote for what is the decision of their state. Then the states all votes are set for the one decision made by the people. States are supposed to have a certain amount of votes compared to their respective populations. But there are some flaws in the system, because the votes are divided unfairly. A person living in Wyoming has 4.14 times more votes to use than a person living in Florida. A link to the table:
http://paha.ath.cx/~dakkus/USAvote.html

What has caused the doubts towards what you're saying is not /what/ you say but /how/ you say it. I agree on about every point you've got. But the subjective outlook of your posts is something that kind of scares me when I don't know the exact reason behind them. An example of what I mean:

The main reason for the war with Iraq was to bring Iraq back to the dollar.

Yes. The idea in this is acceptable. The USA didn't attack for the reasons it said it did. But the reason you told was not THE reason but ONE of the reasons. There's a big difference in those wordings. They heavily affect the reader's emotions and make the rest of the text have a bit different meaning.

This was a scary one too, although more understandable, as it was a preface for some text written about the politics of USA later in your post:

My goodness, you sound exactly like the neo-fascists that have sprouted up in the US since the attacks in September of 2001 and again at the height of the Iraq war.

This seems like an attack towards the possible positive feelings for me for making the reader's mind pro-JohnS and anti-Dakkus. Sounds a bit like the good old nazi-point lord Berlusconi just used.. And I don't think the American neo-fascists are far leftists like I am ;)

The reason for me being so afraid because of some quite nonimportant wordings is that I was bullied in school for some eight years and learned to listen very carefully to what people said so I couldn't be fooled. And you text set an alarm in my mind. It was clearly written so that certain points to use in possible unfriendly replies couldn't be used and the text would go just the way you're hoped. The content of the text is very fine, but the they way the words are laid on my screen looks a lot like good old Soviet propaganda. (Soviet propaganda said: "Come join the lovely Soviet union. Contribute a little to us and we'll give you a lot!" and meant: "Come join the Soviet union. Contribute everything you have and we'll give you a lot of bullets and dig digging work in Siberia". Your words seem to have something behind them but I had absolutely no idea about the reason.

Now it seems that you just happen to be the first conscious person living in USA I've met. Congratulations for that. And I'm happy to hear your reasons :)

To say, also I support EU mainly as a power against the USA and am happy that also someone from USA seems to share my thoughts. Also I'm the kind of hippie who looks quite closely what he buys and says. Trying to hurt as little people as possible with the things I do and so on.

Is your curiosity satisfied?

It is. And my doubts are mostly cleared. Many thanks for answering.

[querty]

Here's my score:

Belgian bills: 22.91%
German bills: 13.54%
Spanish bills: 23.96%
French bills: 14.58%
Italian bills: 1.04%
Dutch bills: 22.91%
Portuguese bills: 1.04%

So I have more Spanish bills received here in Belgium than Belgian bills since I joined EBT in May. I have inserted 96 bills and I still don't have a hit.

Here is a new one:

Belgian bills: 53 bills/32.12%
German bills: 20 bills/12.12%
Spanish bills: 32 bills/19.39%
French bills: 22 bills/13.33%
Irish bills: 1 bill / 0.61%
Italian bills: 3 bills/ 1.82%
Dutch bills: 31 bills/18.79%
Austrian bills: 2 bills/ 1.21%
Portuguese bills: 1 bill / 0.61%

So I have received more and more Belgian bills. Now the Belgians are at my personal top followed by the Spanish and the Dutch. At the bottom the Portuguese and the Italian ones have got two new friends, the Irish and the Austrian. Now I need only to receive Finish bills and Greek bills.

Total: 165 bills

[BossaNova]

ok my stats,

Portugal - 92,9%
France - 4,2%
Spain - 2,5%
Germany - 0,4%
All the Rest - 0,00%

this in a total of 240 notes! is Portugal so far away..

the worst is that I remember seeing one italian and one dutch note before I knew this site the only thing to do is wait until summer

Portugal - 78.5%
Spain - 5.3%
Germany - 5.1%
France - 4.6%
Nederlands - 3.7%
Italy - 0.9%
Austria - 0.8%
Greece - 0.7%
Belgium - 0.3%
Finland - 0.1%
Ireland - 0.07% and only one note!

total notes: 1525!

bn

[micro]

Disappointing result for a big city that's always said to be international and proudly calls itself 'Gateway to the World' :

0.0% Belgium
0.0% Greece
0.0% Luxemburg
0.5% Ireland
0.5% Portugal
0.5% Spain
1.0% Finland
1.0% Netherlands
1.5% Italy
2.5% France
4.5% Austria
87.9% Germany