Public stampede for euros contrasts with FX history

Currency traders may have sold the euro across the board following its creation in 1999 but the European public, who will finally start using it in less than two weeks' time, are queuing up to buy it.

About two-thirds of the starter kits of euro coins, designed to familiarise people with the new currency before it starts circulating on Jan. 1, have been sold in about a week, the European Commission said on Friday.

It said people had been lining up outside banks and post offices to buy the kits, which went on sale between Dec. 14 and 17 around the 12-nation euro zone.

Stocks of the kits are completely or almost completely depleted in Portugal, Finland, Luxembourg, and even in Germany, where attachment to the outgoing deutsche mark is strong.

Such enthusiasm for the euro is a far cry from the cool reception it has received in the foreign exchanges for much of its three-year old life as a virtual currency.

It lost nearly a third of its value against the dollar at its worst, and while it has since clawed back ground, it is still trading about 24 percent below the levels at which it started its trading life against the dollar. --Reuters