The Euro was introduced as a trading currency in 1 January 1999, with 11 of the initial 15 members of the EMU initially adopting the Euro as its currency, with this increasing to 12 when Greece agreed to join the other 11 members on 1 January 2001.
             Europe's single 11-nation basket currency, which began trading in January 1999 with a value of about $1.17 to the USD, fell steadily during the first half of the year but was able to establish a footing, albeit short lived, at just above parity with the USD. In economic terms, the Euro's decline could prove to have little short term effect, however, the psychological impact could have longer term implications because it implied shaky confidence in either the Euro or Europe's ability to achieve sustained growth.
             The Euro replaced the local currencies of the 12 members as of 1 January 2001, with the existing currencies to be phased out over the ensuring six to twelve month period. To date the other countries that are not to adopt the Euro as its standard currency shall be the UK, Denmark and Norway.
             It is by no coincidence that these three countries form the nucleus of the three strongest economies of the EMU and therefore joining the Euro currency is that there financial strength will also be aligned to that of the EMU as a whole.
             The UK in contrast to the other member of the EMU have never replaced their currency where the other major members have, either to replace the old unit or as a member of another currency union.
             The likely acceptance of the Euro currency following the introduction will vary from practical issues such as compatibility of coins going into pay telephones, to patriarchal issues such as who is displayed on the Note/Coin even thou some countries have different backings to there Euro coin than others. So the acceptance will not be merely a monetary issue.
             The UK, inflations, Interest rates etc have historically followed that of the US, and the reason for the ...