How can I check whether old foreign currency paper bills or coins still have value / considered legal tender?
Collectible value aside, let's say I have some old currency – bank notes and coins – from another country, perhaps acquired from a relative who visited many years ago.
In the case of countries or regimes that obviously no longer exist, is it safe to say the currency has no legal tender value?
What about for countries that do still exist: Is there any way I can check if old notes or coins are still considered acceptable legal tender? e.g. a reference source listing country and oldest date for valid currency? Or, is this necessarily a research exercise on a case-by-case basis?
What kinds of events might render old bank notes or coins no longer acceptable as legal tender in their country of issue?
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This is usually a piece of information obtainable from the central/government bank of that country. Each country has its own laws, and each currency release has its own laws.
I've lived in a place that changed bills to coins, and the bills can still be returned to any bank for replacement, but are not considered "legal tender" in the sense that you can go and buy stuff with them (anyone who is not a bank has a right not to accept them as money). Same country had a currency change 10 years prior (not just bills, the whole currency including the currency name), and the old bills are no longer valid and cannot be exchanged (I have some left).
So to answer your question directly - central bank of that country (if it exists, if it doesn't the currency is probably just a collectible item).
BTW: To the best of my knowledge, all the European currencies that were changed to Euro's are no longer valid and can no longer be exchanged.
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