# How Does Accepting Different Currencies Work **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 18, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162 "2010-11-18T23:11:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/1 "2010-11-18T23:11:29Z")
This is a quote from a poster in a thread on GD about the Euro > [@Is that the death rattle of the Euro I hear?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-the-death-rattle-of-the-euro-i-hear/560918/44): > > Switzerland takes Euros and Swiss Francs everywhere. You can buy chicken curry sandwiches and glasses of champagne at the main bar in Zurich airport, the taxi drivers, hotels and restaurants all take Euros. The ticket machines in parking garages and vending machines take both currencies. Before the Euro came along you could spend Swiss francs, French francs, Deutschmarks and Lira. How does this work exactly. OK so you would give the clerk Euros but he’d give you back change in Swiss Francs. Or does he also have Eruos and give you change in Euros. Also if anyone has other examples I’d like to hear, not just from this particular quoted example. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/2 "2010-11-18T23:21:05Z")
IIRC, when I was in both Canada and Mexico I could use US Dollars and would get the change back in local money. Most cash registers (and probably all of them in touristy areas) are set up to accept foreign money, figure in the exchange rate and give change in local currency. It’s just a matter of adjusting the exchange rate as need by. Some places charge a fee for using foreign money IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/3 "2010-11-18T23:43:37Z")
In Cairo the tourist stores take dollars (preferred) Euros or I suppose local currency. What you get back probably depends on what the owner wants to get rid of. (I had exact change when I bought something, so I can’t tell for sure.) I’m pretty sure that I got Canadian dollars back for American ones when I bought stuff near the border. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/4 "2010-11-18T23:47:49Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > OK so you would give the clerk Euros but he’d give you back change in Swiss Francs. Or does he also have Eruos and give you change in Euros. I changed planes at Zurich airport recently. I bought some stuff, paid in Euros and got Swiss change. I still have it, in fact, because I did not go via Zurich on the way back. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/5 "2010-11-19T00:15:47Z")
Here in Peru dollars and nuevos soles work together. In most places you may pay with either or even both. Large supermarket or department stores will even give change in dollars. Supermarket till display soles and dollars. You can basically pay with dollars anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/6 "2010-11-19T00:48:59Z")
Here in the UK, you can only use pounds. Euros or dollars will get you nowhere. Easy enough to exchange them at a bank or post office though. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/7 "2010-11-19T01:05:30Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > IIRC, when I was in both Canada and Mexico I could use US Dollars and would get the change back in local money. Most cash registers (and probably all of them in touristy areas) are set up to accept foreign money, figure in the exchange rate and give change in local currency. It’s just a matter of adjusting the exchange rate as need by. Some places charge a fee for using foreign money IIRC. In Canada, a retailer generally wouldn’t charge a fee, but will typically offer a worse exchange rate than there would be if your changed your US dollars for Canadian ones at a bank, or used a credit card. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/8 "2010-11-19T01:11:28Z")
I’ve spent US dollars in Canada as a tourist. They gave me Canadian money as change. In 2008, the rate offered by stores was simply 1 USD = 1 CAD, which made it really easy, though perhaps not as advantageous for the tourist. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/9 "2010-11-19T01:38:17Z")
The NYS Thruway accepts American or Canadian money, at a 10% discount for the Canadian currency. Considering the current difference is only 2%, that’s a pretty unfavorable rate. I’d assume you’d get change back in American money. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/10 "2010-11-19T02:11:43Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Here in Peru dollars and nuevos soles work together. In most places you may pay with either or even both. Large supermarket or department stores will even give change in dollars. > Supermarket till display soles and dollars. > > You can basically pay with dollars anywhere. Perhaps worth noting that the US dollar is the official currency of neighboring Ecuador. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/11 "2010-11-19T02:45:35Z")
When I was in Europe in 2000, I was on the train from Paris to London. I was buying a snack from the Eurostar attendant. I had run out of francs, so I was paying with some reserve US dollars (in less than an hour I was going to be in the UK, so I only wanted pounds from then on.) The attendant had a portable calculator thingie, and accepted the US dollars. So I, a Canadian tourist traveling on a train in France, paid in US dollars and got British pounds in change. Now _that’s_ flexibility. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/12 "2010-11-19T04:20:28Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > I’ve spent US dollars in Canada as a tourist. They gave me Canadian money as change. In 2008, the rate offered by stores was simply 1 USD = 1 CAD, which made it really easy, though perhaps not as advantageous for the tourist. It’s not so bad now that the Canadian dollar has risen (or ours has fallen). IIRC the Canadian dollar is worth a few cents less than the American, but five years ago it was considerably less. Still, when you’re hungry and the snack stand in Stanley Park takes only cash, and you only have USD on you, it’s better to take a small loss than to go hungry. In any case the Canadian dollar in Vancouver seemed to have purchasing power parity, at least, with an American dollar and what I was used to paying for things in L.A. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/13 "2010-11-19T04:25:29Z")
Also, since our coins and yours are the same size (at least less than a dollar), US coins circulate pretty much freely in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/14 "2010-11-19T04:51:56Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Also, since our coins and yours are the same size (at least less than a dollar), US coins circulate pretty much freely in Canada. Same here in the states in live in Northern Calirofnia and see many Canadian nickles and quarters ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/15 "2010-11-19T07:17:28Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Here in the UK, you can only use pounds. Euros or dollars will get you nowhere. There are stores which accept Euros, but they’re few, far between and in foreign-tourist spots (Oxford Street, Edinburgh’s Royal Mile). ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/16 "2010-11-19T07:22:20Z")
On ferries in international waters, and in certain stores along the Swedish/Norwegian border, cash registers have two (on some ferries three) drawers, one for each kind of money they accept. The cashier asks you what currency you will be using, presses the appropriate button on the register, and tells you your total. When you pay, the appropriate drawer pops open and the cashier makes your change. On the other hand, in international airports and so on, you may only be permitted to use bills/bank notes in a foreign currency, and you will get your change back in the local currency. This is especially true when the store is willing to accept many types of currency, because dealing with all those coins is a hassle. Stores prefer not to deal with them and banks flat-out refuse. I was once on a small passenger ferry in Oslo, one which takes you from the center of the city to an outlying area with several museums and is therefore popular with tourists. An Italian family wanted to pay their fare in euros. To my surprise the ticket seller accepted it, but the man of the family was not happy as he felt the exchange rate was worse than he would have gotten at a bank. The ticket seller suggested that perhaps the tourist had better go to a bank when he had a chance, then? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/17 "2010-11-19T07:52:48Z")
In Luxembourg, before the Euro, they made change in francs or Belgian francs (BEF=LUF), but you could pay in damn near anything: French, German, Swiss, Dutch… they would take anyone’s money. The exchange rates sucked, but many vendors did the conversions in their heads, which was sort of impressive. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/18 "2010-11-19T07:58:11Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Here in the UK, you can only use pounds. Euros or dollars will get you nowhere. Not _strictly_ true. I believe M&S accepts euros everywhere. And Northern Ireland is absolutely full of places that accept euros, especially around the border areas. I once went shopping in Sainsbury’s in Newry and they even had specially designed tills to accommodate both currencies, and gave euro change. Given the news coming out of Ireland these days I’d imagine those days may be drawing to a close, though. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/19 "2010-11-19T12:55:04Z")
I used to work in retail near the US border. We would take US$, but change was always given back in Can$. We didn’t have enough US$ traffic to warrant keeping enough to make change. The exchange rate was always rounded down to the nearest 5¢. ---
**Author:** ![wmfellows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@wmfellows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wmfellows)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162/20 "2010-11-19T13:49:59Z")
To answer better the OP question, you should distinguish between more or less open border areas where there is a high level of multi-currency retail activity and tourism. In the former (as in some areas of Switzerland), the shops may have enough change coming through to make change in Euro (else you have to take change in Swiss Francs). The spread is generally not as horrible as in tourist oriented shops - partially due to volume. However spreads are there in part to protect the shop keeper against currency fluctuations since he’s got to go through the pain of converting the money, and whatever rate he accepted your dollars or Euro at may not be the rate he gets in depositing / changing at the bank. Change back in original currency in any case depends on the volume; high volume areas quite possible, low volume not really. Tourism areas in my experience tend to line up scalping exchange rates, generally you’re an idiot to walk around using Euro or Dollar in a place like Cairo or Nairobi, etc. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-accepting-different-currencies-work/561162.md?page=2)