Buying and selling non-US currency (€, ¥, £, etc.).

[randomness]

I buy cash--paper or coin--from various countries, so that I have some spending money when I arrive. Often people have some left over when they return from their trips abroad, and find that local banks give them lousy rates for their paper money, and won't take their coinage at all. I'll change both paper or coin, at the prevailing rates displayed on xe.com. We both win because neither of us gets charged commission and we exchange at a rate neither of us could get from a bank.

(ladybird97 calls me the International Bank of Leon. This amuses both of us.)

If you have less than $50 or so in non-US currency that you're interested in selling, I may be able to exchange it for US dollars. Drop a comment, let me know what you'd like to sell, and if it's a currency I think I can exchange, we can arrange to meet up.

With regard to buying some of my non-US currency: I have some Estonian krooni and some Hungarian forints to sell. If you are looking to buy other currencies I might be able to help you but I'll have to check. Let me know.

Comments

[klingonlandlady.livejournal.com]

BTW- what's a convenient way to open a bank account in a foreigh bank in a foreign denomination? Preferably a country with a stable economy.

[tla]

That answer varies wildly by foreign country. It's Very Very Hard to get anything other than "bank account accessible only via ATM card" in the UK, for example, because cheques are guaranteed to some value by the bank, ergo are a form of credit. Also they are kind of antsy about money laundering lately.

One option might be to talk to the US branch of a mostly foreign bank. I know some of them have branches in New York.

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

In 1983, it was absurdly easy to go to Switzerland and open a Swiss bank account. U.S. citizens can't have numbered ones, though.

This may not be the help you were looking for, however...

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I have a bunch of URLs saved on just this subject. Unfortunately, I'm not at the machine they're on. When I get back to that machine, though, I'll send them on.