The introduction of euro bank notes and coins on January 1 2001 is an operation of unprecedented magnitude, affecting the currency regimes of 12 European countries.
Within a very short space of time, billions of old notes and coins will need to be withdrawn from circulation and replaced with euro currency. And all without a hiccup.
It will be a massive operation. For example, the Bundesbank estimates
in Germany alone, 2.8 billion Deutsche Mark bank notes and 47.4 billion coins will be in circulation by the end of 2001 – on the eve of the transition to the euro. And that’s just one country.
If the introduction of euro notes and coins goes wrong, retailers could run short
of change at stores’ checkout counters, and unprecedented queues will form at
atms and the service desks of infrastructure operators, such as national railway systems. There could be a major cash crisis.