Italian sisters uncover fortune, but face euro exchange ban

Two sisters found over 150 million lira, the old Italian currency, in their grandfather's basement after their father's death. In conversion, it's over $87,000. Residents of Genoa decided to exchange the old banknotes for the EU currency. Contact with the Bank of Italy was necessary. Did it work?

The two sisters found 158 million old lira in the basement of their grandfather. The Italian central bank refuses to exchange this amount for euros, writes focus.de.

According to "Südtirolnews," cited by the German portal, in Genoa, two sisters found 158 million old lira in their deceased grandfather's basement, equivalent to approximately $88,000.

After the death of their father, who inherited the grandfather's apartment, the women decided to clean the basement. During the cleaning, among crates, suitcases, and an old dresser, they came across large packages of old lira, reads focus.de.

However, the joy did not last long. The sisters turned to the Italian central bank with a request to exchange the old banknotes for euros. The bank, as reported by "radiolina.it," disappointed the sisters by informing them that an exchange more than ten years after introducing the euro is no longer possible.

According to "südtirolnews.it," the sisters do not intend to accept this and plan to write a letter to the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and the governor of the Bank of Italy, Fabio Panetta. The women hope that something can be done about this. Otherwise, the savings of many grandparents and parents who saved lira throughout their lives will be in vain.

The euro was introduced on January 1, 1999, as a cashless currency in participating countries of the European Union. However, euro banknotes and coins only appeared on January 1, 2002, enabling the physical use of the euro as a means of payment in some EU countries.