as i said, when introduced in 1999, the euro was pegged at about $1.00 us. and allowed to float free. after a short run to about $1.10per, the € dropped as low as $0.85 in '02.
i owned a business that purchased all raw materials in europe. about 3 years ago, i closed the door, as profit was impossible with the expensive euro.

as an aside, somewhere in the 80's(i think) the british pound almost reached parity with the us dollar. pound was under $1.05us.

wrong. dollar bought £0.77 in 1985.