How Easy Is It To Get Coin Rolls In European Countries (Especially France!)

Hi goldeneye!

In my experience, it's certainly more difficult to get rolls in France than it was about 40 years ago. Partly this is due to banks often now looking more like furniture showrooms with a tiny 'caisse' in the far corner where someone actually handles cash! Also I daresay the bank clerks were more likely to be nice to a teenage boy trying to speak French than to a middle-aged man who speaks the language fluently...

It helps if you have an account with a bank somehow associated with the European bank. If you've got an account with HSBC or Santander, and go to a branch of the same bank in a European country and brandish the appropriate card, in my experience they won't refuse you. I also think you'll be OK getting coins if you are exchanging foreign currency at the same branch.

I've also had success getting rolls at French post offices and at branches of the Banque de France - the latter are found in big cities and look quite intimidating, usually huge old neo-Classical buildings with buzzers on the doors and someone inside asking what you want. But they've never refused me when I've either asked for change or asked to exchange unwanted coins for banknotes.

I've seldom tried roll hunting in Germany, but last year I went into a completely random bank in Hamburg and got rolls of 2-euro, 5-cent and 2-cent coins without any problem!

I've never tried getting rolls in Finland or the Baltics.