The 31st of January is the last day of the parallel circulation in the Republic of Cyprus of one of the "hardest" currencies of the EU, Cyprus pound, and euro, that came to change it on the 1st of January, 2008.
Cypriot pound came into circulation as the national currency in Cyprus from 1878, and was equal to British pound sterling till 1960, the date of the declaration of independence of the Republic of Cyprus.
Till 1960 by the sample of Turkish lira it was divided into smaller coins - kurus, and after the introduction of the decimal system a pound was divisible by 1000 mils and in 1983 by 100 cents.
From the September of 2007, all prices in the South of Cyprus were noted both in pounds and euro.
Since the 1st of January, 2008 in the Republic of Cyprus the united European currency has come into circulation.
According to the fixed rate, one Cyprus pound accounts 1, 71 euro During the January of 2008, local citizens and tourists could pay in Cyprus pounds and get change in the new type of currency.
And till June' 30, 2008 without any commissions they will be able to exchange the old currency in all the local banks.
Besides that the Central Bank of Cyprus will accept pound coins till the 31st of December, 2009 and the banknotes till the 31st of December 2017.
There were many opinions and analysis results exposed that have shown us that the expansion of the euro as currency in Europe has often led to negative economical circumstances - at least at first.
There are of course consequences for tourists in a country that becomes a member of the EU.