Up to 60 people a day still exchanging punts at Central Bank

Almost four years after we swapped the punt for the euro up to 60 people a day are still turning up at the Central Bank to change…

Almost four years after we swapped the punt for the euro up to 60 people a day are still turning up at the Central Bank to change old notes and coins.

"There are still a lot of people finding hoards of old money, but the amounts are getting smaller," a spokeswoman said. "The numbers turning up tend to peak at holiday time or during big shopping periods like the sales or before Christmas."

The bank's Dame Street headquarters in Dublin is the only place in the country where people can still cash old currency. There is 302 million punts worth outstanding - about a third of it coinage.

"The number of people coming generally varies between 50 and 60 a day. It would average out at around 300 people a week," the spokeswoman said. "In 2005 a lot of the coinage being brought in has been found in outside sheds. Tins and jars of money have been dug up by people gardening."

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Old money has been turning up in some strange places. One woman stripping the walls of her sitting room found an old £50 note stuck behind the wallpaper.

Sorting bookshelves brought a windfall for another woman, who found a £100 note that had been used as a bookmark.

When a bulb blew on a table lamp and the fixture came loose as it was being replaced, a widow discovered a hoard of old notes stuffed down the neck of the lamp.

The bank will accept old Irish notes and coins indefinitely. They will immediately exchange up to £500 (€634.87). When the amount is greater than £500, the value is forwarded by cheque.

Only in Germany, Spain, Luxembourg, Austria and Belgium do central banks promise an indefinite exchange of notes. France, Greece, Finland and Italy will stop in 2012. Portugal will stop in 2022, and the Netherlands will go on until 2032.