If you have leftover foreign currency bills after your trip abroad, you shouldn’t have any problems exchanging them in your country at any bank or currency exchange establishment. However, this applies only to currencies from economically relevant countries or popular tourist destinations.
But what can you do with coins? Can you exchange foreign coins somewhere, or do they only accept bills? The answer is simple: Currency exchange establishments will not accept foreign coins; they only accept foreign bills.
Therefore, if you have leftover foreign coins after your trip, you have the following options:
- Exchange them before returning to your country: Banks usually offer the best exchange rates, although it’s understandable that you might not want to exchange them until you’re at the airport with your plane ticket in hand, as emergencies can arise. At the airport, you might receive a slightly worse exchange rate, but if it’s not a significant amount, it won’t matter much.
- Spend them on souvenirs or food before returning from your trip: Airports typically have souvenir shops, restaurants, and vending machines. If you have coins left, you can always spend them on something to eat or buy a last-minute souvenir. Keep in mind that airport prices are generally higher, but since you won’t do anything with those coins and they don’t represent much money, it’s not a big concern to pay a little extra.
- Use them as tips: During the last hours of your trip, while still in your final foreign destination before returning to your country, you can get rid of all your coins by giving them as tips to local service providers such as restaurant staff, hotel employees, taxi drivers, etc.
- Donate them to a beggar at the end of your trip: If you’re in the final stretch of your journey and you have leftover local coins, before heading to the airport, you can give those coins to a beggar you come across in the urban area. In most cities worldwide, you won’t have trouble finding someone in need. For us, that loose change might have no value, but you can be sure that it will bring the recipient great joy.
- Contribute them to a charity box in the airport: Most airports have charity boxes from local organizations where you can deposit your foreign coins if you don’t know what else to do with them. In addition to getting rid of them, you’ll be supporting a good cause.
- Keep them as a memento: Coins can serve as a souvenir of the country you visited. Besides being unique to the visited country, many coins feature historical engravings and visual aesthetics of interest.
- Give them to someone you know who is planning to visit the same country: You can always gift your leftover coins to a friend or family member who you know will be visiting the same country. However, make sure to assess their value before giving them away, as some coins from certain countries can be valuable, while others may be almost worthless. Therefore, verify the actual value of your coins, as even if you have many, they might have a negligible value, and it could be awkward to give them to someone.