So are you saying that our Euros can expire? Or get too old?

Read what I wrote on this thread.

The first "series" of euro banknotes came out in 2002. The ECB is now issuing a new series (5€ in 2013, 10€ in 2014, 20€ last year, and 50€ this year) that will be harder to counterfeit. At this time, the first series will still be legal tender alongside the new series. That will probably continue until most of the first series bills have left circulation due to been worn out. Eventually, they will announce well in advance that the first series bills will be retired. Even after they are retired, the old bills will not be worthless; you will still be able to exchange them for new ones at certain banks.

Neither did I, where did you here this?
They are slowly replacing the original 2002 notes with newer ones. They look very similar, but have better security features.
The old ones will be withdrawn eventually, but no date has yet been given, and they will still be accepted in banks.

These days, with increasingly sophisticated forgery, most countries upgrade their notes about every 10 years. Switzerland introduced a new 50 Frank note earlier this year. The Bank of England introduced a new plastic £5 note this month (click here for details). In this case the old £5 is being withdrawn in May 2017.

Sweden, also, is in the process of replacing its currency. Some denominations of older banknotes became invalid in June 2016; others become invalid in June 2017:

http://www.riksbank.se/en/Notes--coins/Banknotes/Schedule-new-banknotes-and-coins/

You can redeem older invalid banknotes at the Riksbank, but they charge a fee of 100 kr (about $12). So if you're saving any kronor or are planning to, be careful.

To add to this list of 'retiring' banknotes, the Bank of England issued a new design of £5 note earlier this month made of a polymer material, featuring Sir Winston Churchill. The previous paper design with Elizabeth Fry will be withdrawn from general circulation on 5 May 2017. However, like every banknote ever issued by the Bank of England back to 1694 it can be exchanged at the Bank indefinitely - at face value with no fee. About the only reason the general public are admitted into the main entrance of the bank.

I do have a question about the new Bank of England notes. On one of my first trips to the UK, a fellow visitor told me he'd tried to spend an expired note, and he was directed to a local bank to exchange it. And the Bank of England page says "If your bank, building society or Post Office is not willing to accept these [expired] notes they can be exchanged with the Bank of England in London by post or in person."

I'm wondering about the likelihood of the "bank, building society, or Post Office" part. Is it common for local bank branches to be able to exchange expired notes, even for non-account holders? I have a fiver and a tenner from my last UK trip, and I'm unlikely to get back before either of them expire. It seems like a poor use of my time to go all the way to Threadneedle Street for that small amount of money, especially if there are other options.

Good question, khbuzzard. About for years ago, a Canadian friend visited us and it turned out all the £20 notes he had purchased back home had expired. This was a surprise to him, understandably, and also to me, since I was living in Canada when the notes were withdrawn. They were rejected in one store. We walked round to the nearest bank and exchanged them for current notes without any problem.

I have had no trouble paying in notes that are no longer legal tender - but in each case the bank concerned has checked beforehand that I have an account with them. Not to say that a bank won't take them from anyone, particularly if they have only just gone out of circulation, but it might take up a bit of time slogging round them. The Bank of England museum is worth a visit if you need to go.

It is possible to send the notes in the post to the Bank, but a cheque in sterling or an international bank transfer is the only payment option..

There is also an address you can mail the old notes to.

My address

My father found in a drawer a few expired Swiss banknotes. The banknotes could be exchanged at the Swiss national bank or a few selected local bank; in spite of having to go to Switzerland, I had to go nowhere near one of such tellers. So when I went I sent the expired banknotes by mail to the main teller in Bern and in a couple of weeks I got a bank draft on my account. - While internal Swiss post is reliable enough, I would have not sent the bills by international mail.

@ Shelley...With 500 Euro you don't have anything to worry about. I wouldn't.

Fred, I get to EU so seldom, that it would just be my luck that I land with a pocketful 'o' nuthin... Someone asked, where did I hear this news? It was another thread, where the poster tried to put his EU into a ticket machine, but they weren't accepted. So I guess I should depend upon any bank to be able to exchange them for me, OK, that would be a perfect option - just so I don't lose the value.

James' address - lol.

That poster in the other thread was talking nonsense, making things up. It isn't true. Your euro notes will not expire.

@ Shelley...All I can say is that this news is completely new to me. I've never heard such a thing, I bring back more than 500 Euro and don't believe in this expiration business.

@Fred, I get to EU so seldom, that it would just be my luck that I land with a pocketful 'o' nuthin...

@James - your address, lol ! Oh sure!

Hey, your U.S. dollars get updated, too -- remember the Susan B Anthony $2 coin (that looked and felt like a quarter ?) Or the new $5 a few years ago which required updates to vending machines? Or the coming redesign of the $10. And yet we manage.
Old movie "Goodbye Lenin" about life in East Germany after reunification had a subplot about an entire currency being phased out, with strict deadlines. Not the case here.

It was another thread, where the poster tried to put his EU into a
ticket machine, but they weren't accepted.

Bahn ticket machines can take 5, 10, 20, & 50 euro banknotes. However, depending on the size of the purchase, the large notes might be blocked out. Note: the machines give change in coins, so for a 6€ purchase with a 50€ note, you'd get back twenty-two 2€ coins, but they don't want to do that, so they won't accept a 50€ note (probably not a 20€ note, either. i suspect that's what happened to that poster.

So, Shelley, if you go to Europe so seldom, why are you holding on to those notes? Go to one of the travel group meetings and sell them at face value to someone who goes regularly, or sell them back to the bank. You'll lose a lot of money, but you won't have to worry anymore.

She doesn't have to worry at all about them being too old or expiring. Just because someone had a ticket machine problem, they now have people worried about a non-existent situation.

Keep your 500 euro, Shelley.

If that person with a ticket machine problem had that with a DB machine, the person can't read German and can't read pictorials since the DB machine clearly shows it takes US magnetic stripe and chip/pin credit cards and cash. Having trouble with both methods of payment shows he read the machine incorrectly. I've used both credit card and cash for payment ....never had a problem. The transaction always went through. Bottom line...Hang on to the 500 Euro.

Fred, at the airport, the DB and RMV which is the local transportation company, share the machine. You can use your credit card for DB tickets, but not for local transport. This is the situation in most cities in Germany, perhaps all of them.

Yes, I noticed in Munich for the S-Bahn the machine did not accept a US credit card when I was buying a ticket at the Hbf to go to MUC.

The previous paper design with Elizabeth Fry will be withdrawn from general circulation on 5 May 2017.

Marco, When did Liz divorce Phil and marry Stephen? :)

Earlier this year I exchanged old Pound notes for newer ones at the Bank of England. No problems.

Notes don't expire. They just need to be exchanged from time to time.

If that person with a ticket machine problem had that with a DB
machine, the person can't read German ...

The DB machine has flags at the bottom of the opening screen. They allow you switch the machine to other languages, like English. I've never switched the machine, so I can't tell you how clear the English is. (One of the reasons I go to Germany is to use and improve my German, so I keep the screens in German.)

can't read pictorials since the DB machine clearly shows it takes US
magnetic stripe and chip/pin credit cards and cash

When you go to pay, the machine shows you pictorially what forms of payment it accepts. There are three lines: one for coins, one for notes, and one for cards. For a small euro amount purchase, one (50€) or more of the notes might be crosses out because the machine won't accept or give change for such a small amount. The card line shows four types, Giro(EC), Maestro, Credit, or GeldKarte (a kind of prepaid debit card). I guess, from what Jo says, that if you are purchasing a local ticket, all of the cards will be crossed out (except possibly the GeldKarte). Maestro is a debit card linked to MasterCard, so maybe, if the Maestro Card is not crossed out, a MasterCard debit card would work in the machine.

From the RMV website,

The new Deutsche Bahn (DB) ticket machines are equipped with a screen
which has a touch-sensitive surface (i.e. touchscreen).

There are two [my emph.] different types of design for these
machines:

The RMV machine has a turquoise housing and displays the RMV start
page The DB machine has a red/grey housing and displays the DB start
page

When the DB touch screen automats first came out, in about 2001 (I think), they only took credit cards. At first, I didn't think they accepted American credit cards because I tried to use the machine like an ATM. The first thing I did at the machine was to put in my card, and it spit it back out. Later I discovered that you have to select your ticket type and get a price before you can put in the card to pay.

Maybe the OP tried putting in his card before the machine was ready to accept it.

What is unique in the US and we just take for granted is the currency never "expires" or becomes worthless. A $1 bill printed in 1800 is just as valid for use as one printed this year. Now if you have an 1800's $1 bill, it would be foolish to try and spend it because it would be worth a whole lot more to a collector than $1.

In Europe, and the rest of the world, countries replace currency often, retiring the old for various reasons. Great Britain will go through a complete replacement of its currency whenever the current queen leaves and the next ruler takes over. The current Pounds will cease to be usable for everyday transactions at some point in time. Euros are a bit different in that they are not tied to a specific ruler, but they also will be retired at various intervals being replaced with newer notes. However, the current Euros are still perfectly valid even though they are in the process of being replaced with newer designs. Don't panic yet, there will be plenty of time to spend the ones you have.

Recently, early this year I was using one dollar bills printed in 1967, (?) after the Silver Certificate went out, I had ca 25 of these Fed Reserve Notes.

Fred,

Proving my point. :-)

I remember back when I mowed lawns for some of the retired women around where I lived I would get all kinds of US paper money including silver certificates and whatever those were that had the red real on them (United States Notes). One paid me in crisp 1934 issue US bills and even a few National Currency notes issued in 1929 that I sold to a collector for a few percent markup. This was in the late 1970's into the 80's.

@ Mark...Exactly. As a kid I kept a roll of buffalo nickels dated 1937, still have them. You know those are unadulterated. The "Silver Certificates" are another story. I only managed to save 4 of them before they went out. .What I should have done in the '50s and '60s was to save at least one of each coin (dime, quarter, half dollar ) my folks gave me that were still in circulation such as the buffalo nickels, coins used during the war but were still used in the '50s and early '60s.

In Europe, and the rest of the world, countries replace currency often, retiring the old for various reasons. Great Britain will go through a complete replacement of its currency whenever the current queen leaves and the next ruler takes over. The current Pounds will cease to be usable for everyday transactions at some point in time.

New coins with the new monarch's effigy will be issued, but the coinage won't be replaced. Don't worry too much about older coins. ;-) Though they will be facing the other way.

As long as the coin is the same construction and face value it will circulate. When the 10p was shrunk in 1993 it displaced decimal 10p and pre decimal 2 shilling coins some of which carried the effigy of The Queen's father, George VI, and was the first time in, well, British history that coins bearing the effigy of a single monarch have been circulation.