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On every trip I end up with piles of small coins. The reason, I find it quite difficult to identify foreign coins quickly. It is quite annoying to to read every value of a coin, especially in those countries where you need a magnifying glass to read the values (e.g. try making sense of US coins for example). The result is that I usually pay with bills leading to yet more coins due to change.

Is there a trick or template that would enable me to quickly make sense of the different coins in a country I am visiting?

2 Answers2

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I have this problem. I recently visited for the first time the Eurozone, then the UK. I find the coins in the UK to be especially annoying/confusing. But after a couple weeks of frustration, I just took a moment, when I was away from a cashier, not buying anything, and studied the various coins for about 5 minutes. Since then I'm able to pay without trouble.

So I think the key is simply to make a conscious effort, ideally when you aren't holding up a transaction.

There have also been times when I've just offered a pile of coins to a cashier and said "Would you do the honor?" They usually smile and oblige. I think most cashiers, especially in tourist places, are accustomed to foreigners who have not learned the local currency.

Flimzy
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I would separate them by colour in my mind first, most countries use different metals for at least some denominations. Then secondly think of size. Try getting used to the largest denomination coin first and spending these as they will be heavier and you don't want to keep too many. In the 25c/10c range you will end up with more of these coins so remember these ones next.

Anna Jenkins
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