New Italian Money = Euro

Since February 28, 2002, the official currency of Italy is the Euro (€) or l'euro in Italian. One Euro is made up of 100 cents.

The 'Euro' is the new common currency of members of the European Union. Euros actually became available on January 1, 2002, but there were changeover periods which varied by country.

The Euro is roughly equivalent to a US dollar in value, but this exchange rate changes based on economic factors. Here's a place to check for the current exchange rate.

To find more information about Euro banknotes, go to this website.

Paper Money

Banknotes come in seven denominations: five, ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred, two hundred and five hundred Euros. Their front faces show pictures of windows and gateways.

On the back of the bills are a map of Europe and pictures of bridges from different time periods throughout the EU countries. The bridges are meant to stand for the 'bridges' the EU countries are building among themselves through trade and cooperation. The banknotes are the same throughout the EU.

Coins

The coins all have a 'common' side which is the same everywhere. The 'national' or 'country' side and the edge lettering on the two-Euro coin are two variations that reflect each country but don't limit where the Euro can be spent. For example, a Dutch Euro can be used as money anywhere in the EU -- perhaps to buy a cuckoo clock in Germany or postcards in Italy.

Euros (symbolized by €) and cents also come in eight kinds of coins: worth two and one Euro each, and cent coins of fifty, twenty, ten, five, two and one.

Prices are listed like this €25,15 with a comma separating Euros from cents.

On the left is what the Italian Euro looks like on the front -- the same as any other Euro. It shows a map of the EU and the twelve stars representing the EU member countries linked by parallel lines.

On the right is a picture of the back side of the Italian Euro, with the famous drawing by Leonardo da Vinci illustrating the ideal proportions of the human body. The twelve stars representing the EU countries are in a circle around the it.

Each country could decide what to put on the back sides of their coins, so the designs are quite different.

To see what the front sides of the coins look like (the same in all EU countries), check here. To see what the Italian versions of the reverse sides of the coins look like, go to this website.

'Old money' in Italy -- before the Euro -- was the Italian lira or lire in Italian. It took a lot of lire to buy anything! The one hundred thousand lire bill at the left would have recently been worth about $45 in US money. The bills were larger size if they were worth more, unlike US dollar bills which are all the same size. If you'd like to compare the sizes of Euros and Italian lire coins, here's where to look.

The former currency of each EU country has a conversion rate that's fixed, meaning it will not change day-to-day. One Euro equals 1936.27 Italian lira. To find the rates for other currencies, check here.

Making the 'Change'

As of February 28, 2002, the Euro is the official money of Italy. Banks will still exchange lire and cents for Euros for some time to come.

Because the changeover to Euros happened very recently, it's probably possible to find Italian lire still available in Italy. No doubt, people have stashed some coins and notes away in drawers as keepsakes. Old money can also be donated to charities such as UNICEF.

If you'd like to know more, here's some information about the change to Euros in the European Union countries. And here's more information about the Euro from the European Union (EU) website. For more about the EU itself, go here.

And if you know all you need to know about the Euro, you might want to play a game or two.