Why you should check your foreign money before travelling

Watch out for outmoded currency the next time you travel.

B.C. resident Nicolas Attieh learned that lesson after discovering his Mexican Peso bill was worthless when he tried converting it back to Canadian funds.

“It makes me crazy,” said Attieh.

Back in June, he went to a currency exchange broker in Surrey and converted $300 CDN to Pesos.

Attieh did not use all his cash in Mexico, so when he returned home he tried to convert his Mexican money back to Canadian funds.

To his surprise, he was told by the bank the Mexican bank note was worthless.

“They told me it’s worth nothing, it’s old money,” said Attieh.

Attieh thought his 2,000 Mexican peso bill from 1989 was worth $141 dollars CDN.  Turns out, it’s present day value is about four cents CDN.

That’s because the bill is outmoded, dropped out of circulation.

The Mexican Peso was revalued in January 1993. That means Peso notes dated before that time are one thousand times less valuable than the new Mexican bank notes.

Even though the Bank of Mexico does honour authentic Peso notes regardless of the date – they do so at present day values.

While it’s not common, outmoded currency can surface. Eric Low from Vancouver Bullion & Currency Exchange says consumers need to be cautious.

“Do your homework. Go on to the internet, possibly search and familiarize yourself with what your currency looks like in the destination you are traveling to,” says Low.

Low also recommends making sure you get a receipt the next time you exchange money.

“In the event something does happen, you can go back and return it or bring up an issue that came up.”

Also, when returning from a trip, industry experts recommend exchanging your unused currency back to Canadian funds sooner than later.

You never know when currencies can all of a sudden become outmoded.