Anyone know if Italian Lira coins are still valid currency? I have

[yy4me]

some coins that I will give to a family member who is going to Italy if they can be redeemed for Euro. I have a feeling that the time for exchange has expired but maybe Italy is different from France. I don't think you can redeem French Franc coins any longer.

[tuvor]

1. The lira is no longer legal tender. Is it just coins you have?

Because apparently these guys will convert your discontinued bills into US cash.

(Found them in googling when the lira was discontinued—2002—so I can't vouch for them.)

http://www.thecurrencycommission.com/contents.html

[yy4me]

2. Just a bunch of coins I wanted to give to a family member who

is going to visit her student daughter in Florence. I bought a huge bag of coins at a yard sale for $1.00 years ago and have been giving them away as I found out who might be going to a spot for which I had currency.

I took the French franc coins myself quite some years ago and redeemed then before the switch to Euro. I was hoping that some of these coins would be valid and perhaps be put into the contribution containers they have in front of churches and museums.

Some of these coins are really strange and probably are from countries long gone. I'd love to give them to someone to take over and donate. I feel some might be of value as currency and some as collectibles. I'm sure any coins that appear are checked to see if they are worth something. I've seen a few on e-bay for 4-5 dollars each but I don't want to get into anything like that. I have no knowledge of the field of numismatics.