Cash Denominations in Europe

Nope.

more difficult to cash- most vendors will give you a hard look.

You might find it very difficult and expensive to use US $s in Europe, and, because of counterfeiting, even harder to use big bills ($100s and $50s). A commonly used exchange desk in Europe, Travelex, discounts your money 10% - 14% (11% today)! Most of us just get cash from an ATM, like we do in this country. If you do want some Euro in advance, get it from Wells Fargo. They average 5%. It is advisable to have ATM cards from several accounts, cards that can be used in Europe, like with Plus or Cirrus logos. You might want to check with your bank as to the locations of ATMs that take their cards. Ask you bank for a large enough single withdrawal amount and make sure you tell them you will be traveling in Europe so they don't suspect fraud and put a stop on your card.

Assume you meant 50 and 100 euro notes, not US dollars. You WILL run into problems if you try to use US dollars.

Hi, I suggest carrying the 50 both in Euro and $ as a reserve. That's what I do. No need to take $100s.

A few years ago, there was an outbreak of counterfeit hundred dollar bills in Germany and I had trouble cashing hundred dollar bills in smaller banks.
I have never had trouble cashing fifty dollar bills.

Dollars, Joan, or euro?

As I said, dollars.

On most Windows keyboards you can get the € sign using alt+0128

I have had no experience with cash US currency in Europe so I am only repeating what I have heard or read. You should have new or newly new currency. Second I have read to avoid the $50 bill because it historically has been the most counterfeited bill. Even when I use a 50 in the US, most of the time the clerk will subject the bill to some type of a test. My backup cash in Europe is 10, $20 bills. That doesn't take a lot of space. In 18+ years of travel, I have never had to go into the back up. But I keep carrying it.

For the € symbol, hold down the Alt key and simultaneously type "0128" on the numeric keypad. This works with a PC. There is another way, I think, for Macs. Not sure what you do with pads. BTW, rather than taking USD with you, prepay your credit card account and get a PIN for the card. Then, if you some reason the debit card doesn't work, you can get a cash advance at a bank or ATM. I think credit cards charge 3% for a cash advance and another 3% for currency exchange, but that's still less than 11% at Travelex.

For MACS, reference it by calling up either Character Viewer or Keyboard Viewer, and you can get either the keystroke, or you can copy and paste it (and a multitude of other symbols) from the pallet it gives.