What your money actually is
Every denomination, whether the notes in your hand are still worth anything, what exchanging them really costs, and what you may legally carry across a border. Every figure is dated and linked back to the central bank, customs authority or law that set it.
Start with the map
Every country is coloured by the currency it uses, so who shares money with whom shows up without a legend: the euro area, both CFA franc zones, the dollarised economies, the Eastern Caribbean. Pick a country to open its currency.
Still sitting on pre-euro cash?
5 of these can still be exchanged for euro today, with no deadline at all: Austrian schilling, Belgian franc, German mark, Irish punt, Luxembourg franc. Others closed years ago. Check which →
Start with a question
Do I have to declare this cash?
Two rules apply to every journey: one where you leave, one where you arrive. The EU's €10,000 threshold binds only at the external border, so Paris to Berlin needs nothing while Delhi to Paris does.
Is a torn note still worth anything?
Usually yes. Most countries pay full face value if half the note survives, and assess the rest rather than refusing them. Singapore pays half value in between.
What is this exchange really costing me?
Paste the rate you were quoted and see the gap against mid-market. We do not sell currency, so we have no reason to flatter any method.
Can this old currency still be redeemed?
Withdrawn does not mean worthless. Some central banks redeem forever; others set a date and stop. The difference is worth real money.
Browse
All currencies →
Denominations, security and tactile features, withdrawn series and exchange status.
Cash border rules →
Declaration thresholds by country and by route, with the form and the penalty.
Currency scams →
Why the Iraqi dinar "revaluation" pitch works, and the fact it depends on you not knowing.
Why this site exists
Ask whether an old banknote is still valid and you mostly find forum threads, or a company that wants to buy it from you. The facts are public, they are just scattered across 190 central banks, in a dozen formats, and often behind a search box.
Two ideas get conflated constantly, and both cost people money. Withdrawn from circulation is not the same as no longer legal tender, and neither necessarily means no longer redeemable. India's ₹2000 note was withdrawn but remains legal tender. Switzerland's eighth series lost legal tender status yet is redeemable forever. Spain's peseta window simply closed in 2021. Same question, three different answers: which is exactly why a single confident sentence on a travel blog is worth so little.