This got me to thinking. I have some very old Norwegian coins that I collected when I was in elementary school in the 50s. They were included in a package of materials I received from the embassy in answer to a request for information about the country for a school report.

From travels I still have some Ecuadorian sucres, which they haven't used for years. I just keep them in my growing coin/bill collection.

Interesting what some of us have squirreled away in drawers.

There are some countries that will take back old notes. Spain will accept pesetas until 2020. The Bank of England will accept all of their old notes but you have to go to the bank or send the notes directly to them. I went to the Bank of England on my list visit to London and exchanged £200 in old notes that I found from previous trips.

I make a point to get a few clean, crisp banknotes in each country I visit. I have them framed in several identical frames along one wall of my home.

I also have a bucket of foreign coins that probably weighs 20 pounds.

Ah, good, I was beginning to think I was the only one that did that. :) I get the coins framed too. I've got half a dozen scattered about the house and I give them to the nieces & nephews every decade or so.

I am a trillionaire too!!! Gotta love Zimbabwian currency!

I have a large collection of Belgian franc notes and they are still (IIRC) valid for conversion into EUR if I stop by some central bank office in Belgium.

I have a big jar full of old coins and notes. Probably 40-50 different countries. None of real value...just loose change that came home from a trip. My kids enjoy looking through it from time to time.

There's a GBP one-pound note in there that I actually received as change in Scotland in the late 1990's. Also some early-1990's rubles and green plastic Moscow Metro tokens.

I probably have banknotes from about 80 countries framed (just pressed between two pieces of glass). How are you framing coins which are different thicknesses?

I have a huge collection of bills that I keep meaning to get framed - one of my favourites is a bill from the Weimar Republic!

As a kid I loved looking through my grandmother's collection of coins and I have dutifully added to it over the years. I hope my daughter will have fun too and it will fuel a love for travel

In other words, a few Hong Kong five-dollar coins?

On the flip side, tens of thousands of one yen coins...

I have exchanged out-of-date British pounds at the Bank of England in London and German marks at the Bundesbank in Dresden.

In both cases, I was cheerfully provided new currency.

I have a stash of about a dozen foreign currencies. That's small compared to what some here have collected, but it's more than anyone else in my family has collected in 50 years. In most cases the value per currency is small-- no more than a few USD each. I think the most I have "stranded" in any one currency is about £14 from the UK. I'm in no rush to exchange it. I keep the money as travel souvenirs. Even if I no longer appreciate them at some point, the kids or grandkids in my family might.

The coins I got done by a professional framer. No idea how they do it, but I think they just back those they need to with card or foam to raise them all to the same level. I've got three of those frames - they gave me a nice discount on the second and third, saying that they made a nice change <ahem> from what they normally get to frame.

Maybe save those old drachmas, francs, etc. You never know when you will be able to use them again. ;)

I went to Spain in 2002 and patiently waited in line at the Bank of Spain to exchange my pesetas. When I finally reached the counter I was told that they would not accept the coins, though they did take the old bills. Needless to say I was pretty livid that the central bank would not honor it's own currency so I angrily threw the coins in the air as I walked away from the counter. Clearly the occasional traveler did not have the opportunity to exchange for Euros during the limited time window.

That being said I still have some Greek drachmas, which it seems might be useful on my next trip :D

For countries that I anticipate visiting again in the next year or two I generally keep my leftover cash and then some, i.e. $USD $20-100, so that I don't have to run to an ATM when I land. Mexico, UK, Australia and the Euro-zone fall into this category. In fact I was a bit bummed that I did not have any Euros when I arrived in Brussels and had to use the sketchy ATMs at the train station. I am not too worried about these currencies being retired.

I give my low value coins from less popular currencies to my son, who has inherited the collection that I started many years ago thanks to my grandparents. Most of the collection has been out of circulation for decades, but in some ways that makes it more interesting.