What can I do with my foreign coins?

Q Where may I recycle various foreign coins? I have tried a bank and a charity shop without success.

Magdolna G

A The end of the year is an excellent time to clear out some of the detritus of travel, and I can understand you wanting to offload some surplus foreign coinage.

Banks these days, in my experience, see foreign exchange as a faff rather than a customer service. They have always been wary of foreign coinage, and I am not surprised yours did not welcome it.

I am puzzled, though, that the charity shop you tried did not accept them – if it is part of a national organisation, I believe it should have a plan for dealing with what is, literally, free money.

The easiest way to change coins for actual sterling is through one of the Fourex change machines, which are installed in various travel locations in southeast England – notably in the King’s Cross St Pancras underground station in central London. You get a pretty poor rate of exchange, but most people who use them take the view that it is better than nothing, and it takes only the time needed to pump the coins in.

If you are not in the area, then there are online solutions – such as leftovercurrency.com, which also exchanges pre-euro European currencies.

Yet before you cash in your coins, take a moment to consider this: if you have euro or US dollar coins in any significant quantities, then either save them for your next visit, or see if friends or family can use them.

For other, less sought-after currencies, it could still be worth hanging on to the coins. I always do, because when I return to a country small change can be extremely useful – even if only to buy a ticket for the train or bus from the airport.

On the subject of airports: they almost all have charity collection points for surplus coins, and are happy to accept all currencies. And British Airways’ ongoing charity appeal, Change For Good, encourages passengers to deposit coins of any denomination for good causes. So perhaps wait for your next flight.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder