After a decade of preparations, the euro was launched on 1 January 1999: for the first three years it was an ’invisible’ currency, only used for accounting purposes and electronic payments. Coins and banknotes were launched on 1 January 2002, and in 12 EU countries the biggest cash changeover in history took place.
Eoghan explains the border phenomenon of the ’Punt Purse, the Sterling Purse and the Euro Purse’.