I was just looking at an old folder that I had put in a box of expired drivers licenses, credit cards and old business cards. I had put an envelop in the box of emergency cash and traveler's cheques. Some of the cash was French Francs. Some was Canadian dollars.
This says a number of relevant things.
This stash must be more than 16 years old. I haven’t used traveler’s cheques in thirty years, even for travel in Africa. The world has come to accept my invention (the multi-bank) credit card, Visa and Mastercard. It is nearly universal and has pretty much replaced travellers cheques. Though the cheques are theoretically still cashable. But only by me; and I’m old.
I tried to put them in my checking account. So far I have failed. My local Wells Fargo had no idea of how to process them. I will try several other approaches.
The Canadian dollars have been for a ride. I probably created this box in the mid 1990’s when the Canadian dollar was $.73. A few years later by 2002 it had dropped to $.63. Then it began a steady rise to over $1.00 from 2010 to 2013. At one point in September 2007 it was worth more than $1.10. Now it is worth $.77.
The French Francs took a more tortuous journey. I had over $1,000 worth when I put them away for safe storage in the mid 1990’s. Along came the Euro in 1999 when I had forgotten I had the francs.
When I just looked up the value of my francs I found they are now worth $0.00. The French Francs had been redeemable in Euros up until February 2011.
I will hold on to them. Despite the solidity of the Euro during the crash of the Greek economy and the near crash of the Spanish and Portuguese economies, there remains the possibility of dissolution of the Euro in the next financial panic. The Spanish and the Greeks are not likely to change their siesta-and-bribery lifestyles.