- Title: GERMANY: GERMANS START BUYING EURO COINS
- Date: 16th December 2001
- Summary: (W1) FRANKFURT, GERMANY (DECEMBER 16, 2001) (REUTERS) (FOR DETAILED SHOTLIST ITEMS 1 -7 SEE PROD 14582/01) 1. WIDE OF PARTY 2. PEOPLE APPLAUDING 3. WIDE OF EURO GONG WITH BUNDESBANK PRESIDENT ERNST WELTEKE AND FRANKFURT LORD MAYOR PETRA ROTH 4. CLOCK TICKS DOWN 5. WIDE COUNTDOWN, WELTEKE HITS GONG 6. WELTEKE HAMMERING AT ICE AN ICE BLOCK CONTAINING EUROS 7. WELTEKE HOLDING EURO 0.47 (U3) FRANKFURT, GERMANY (DECEMBER 17, 2001) (REUTERS) 8. GV FRANKFURT SKYLINE PAN TO EURO CLOCK 0.58 9. SCU EURO CLOCK SHOWING FOURTEEN DAYS, FOURTEEB HOURS AND TWENTY NINE MINUTES LEFT TILL INTRODUCTION OF EURO 1.07 10. SCU SIGN READING WELCOME EURO/PAN TO BANK EMPLOYEE REMOVING ERU COINS FROM BAG 1.15 11. SLV CUSTOMERS ENTERING FRANKFURT BANK AT NINE A.M WALKING PAST DISPLAY ABOUT THE EURO (2 SHOTS) 1.30 12. SMV BANK EMPLOYEES SELLING EURO COINS TO CUSTOMER 1.40 13. SCU EURO COINS BEING COUNTED 1.47 14. SCU SOUNDBITE (English) ANDREW BAILEY, SAYING "It's very shiny. That's very new. I can't use it yet so that's no good to me. It's going to be a Christmas present for my sister. I think Britain should go for it. I like the idea." 2.00 15. SCU EURO COINS 2.03 16. SCU SOUNDBITE (German) BARBARA BOETTCHER, SAYING "I am looking forward to the euro because I travel a lot and this makes it much easier." 2.09 17. VARIOUS, EURO COINS BEING SOLD TO CUSTOMERS (2 SHOTS) 2.26 18. SCU EURO COINS BEING THROWN ONTO COUNTER 2.34 (W5) COLOGNE, GERMANY (DECEMBER 17, 2001) (REUTERS) 19. VARIOUS, ERNST WELTEKE, BUNDESBANK PRESIDENT, AT CEREMONY IN COLOGNE'S PEDESTRIAN ZONE/ WELTEKE HOLDING EURO COINS (3 SHOTS) 2.54 20. WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE 2.59 21. SCU SOUNDBITE (German) WELTEKE, SAYING "As of midnight last night people in Germany can now touch the euro. After long periods of scepticism the mood has turned and to be first in line to buy the new coins was a major ambition for many. The starter kits are being handed out and even grabbed from banks in a party-like atmosphere." 3.27 22. VARIOUS, WELTEKE HOLDING BAGS OF EURO COINS; WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE (5 SHOTS) 3.56 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 31st December 2001 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: FRANKFURT AND COLOGNE, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Reuters ID: LVA88VRD26N65KODZBUXKU4Z5FAN
- Story Text: Germans have had their first taste of the new Euro
currency, as selected banks began selling the coins to eager
citizens at midnight.
Frankfurters showed huge interest in the new currency as
many other banks started selling the new European money during
regular opening hours.
At a ceremony in the German financial capital of
Frankfurt just after midnight on Monday (November 17, 2001),
Bundesbank president Ernst Welteke sold the first starter kits
that included around 20 coins.
A few blocks away, the boss of one of Germany's largest
banks, Dresdner Bank chairman Bernd Fahrholz, handed out the
starter kits to a select group of visitors.
Later on Monday, Germans crowded into banks to get their
hands on the starter kits of euro coins, swapping their
cherished deutschemarks for the new European currency.
Undeterred by snow and freezing temperatures, Germans
stood outside thousands of banks throughout Europe's largest
country to pick up their 20 mark ($9) sample of euro coins
before the new currency is officially launched on January 1.
Polls in Germany have shown that the common European
currency is slowly becoming more accepted by consumers but
opinions still differ.
"I can't use it yet so that's no good to me but it's going
to be a Christmas present for my sister.... I think Britain
should go for it," said one British customer who had waited to
buy his starter kit in a Frankfurt bank.
"I am looking forward to the euro because I travel a lot
and this makes it much easier," said Barbara Boettcher,
another customer said.
But some were less enthusiastic about the new currency.
"The German mark has been an internationally recognised
means of payment for fifty years and it would have been nice
to keep the mark," said Erwin Ochs.
Nine of the twelve participating countries began selling
euros on Friday and Saturday, Germany being one of the last
three countries to unveil the new coins.
Speaking in Cologne on Monday (December 17), Bundesbank
president Ernst Welteke said that Germans were excited by the
launch of the euro.
"As of midnight last night people in Germany can now touch
the euro. After long periods of scepticism the mood has turned
and to be first in line to buy the new coins was a major
ambition for many.
The starter kits are being handed out and even grabbed from
banks in a party-like atmosphere," Welteke said.
The first countries to sell the coins to their citizens were
France, Ireland and the Netherlands, on Friday.
About 185 Million packets were prepared for the 300
Million citizens of Europe, 53.3 Million alone in Germany,
Europe's most populous country.
The starter packs are designed to help people get used to
the new currency, about two weeks before it becomes legal
tender on January 1, 2002.
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