" 'Xcusa'. U.S. Dollar OK?"

While serving as a US GI back in the 50's, I was stationed in Germany for two years and took every opportunity to visit as many countries as I could. Every country had it's own currency which resulted in "left-over" coins of lira, pounds ,pesetas, francs, marks, etc. A fist-ful of unusable pieces when arriving back in "The States". The money-exchange of each country created confusion, and efforts to unify the different monetary standards have been made. January 1, 2002 began the dawn of a new era opening a new chapter in European history as twelve of the countries in the European Union issued their new banknotes and coins they called the EURO. It took six years of planning and designing before the various countries agreed on the new 14 billion euro banknotes and 50 billion euro coins to be minted, printed and distributed. A huge undertaking! Around ten billion banknotes were put into circulation immediately, replacing each country’s national banknotes, while the rest were held in reserve to replenish stocks

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The symbol chosen for the new currency (€) was inspired by the Greek letter "epsilon", which is the first letter of the word Europe (ancient Greek name found in Greek mythology). The two parallel lines indicate euro's stability. The official abbreviation for the new currency, which has also been registered with the International Standards Organization is EUR and can be used in financial, commercial and business activities.

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The eight euro coins vary in size, weight, material, color and thickness to facilitate recognition by the blind and the partially sighted. Each coin has a common design, while the flip side represents a country’s design. Currently, seventeen countries have adopted the Euro, but two Scandinavian countries are keeping their national currency, that being Norway, Sweden and the famous kroner. The idea of a unified currency is having a rocky record, and there are changes still developing.

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While the US Dollar still ranks supreme, the Euro is rated as #2..The Norse and Swede Kroner come in farther down the popularity list.

---Check out Sweden!---

Sweden is moving towards a cashless economy! Sweden was the first European country to introduce bank notes in 1661. Now it's come farther than most on the path toward getting rid of them. In most Swedish cities, public buses don't accept cash; tickets are prepaid or purchased with a cell phone text message. A small but growing number of businesses only take cards, and some bank offices — which make money on electronic transactions — have stopped handling cash altogether."There are towns where it isn't at all possible anymore to enter a bank and use cash," complains Curt Persson, chairman of Sweden's National Pensioners' Organization. Even in houses of worship, like the Carl Gustaf Church in Karlshamn, southern Sweden, Vicar Johan Tyrberg, is pictured here standing next to a recently installed card reader that makes it easier for worshippers to make offerings at their services.

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The number of bank robberies in Sweden plunged from 110 in 2008 to 16 in 2011 . There's no money in the bank!?

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Of course, there are opponents of the trend. Hanna Celik, whose family owns a newspaper kiosk in a Stockholm shopping mall, says the digital economy is all about banks seeking bigger earnings. The banks charge about 5 Swedish kronor ($0.80) for every credit card transaction, and a law passed by the Swedish Parliament prevents him from passing on that charge to consumers. "For them (the banks), this is a very good way to earn a lot of money, that's what it's all about. They make huge profits."

Credit cards seem to be a very hard item to receive, making it difficult for the elderly due to lack of credit, ID, etc. Perhaps the US Credit Cards will become the future currency of choice!......... A new Swedish billfold..