I think the European countries lost their identity when most switched to the Euro.
I was in Germany in August and used the new currency (new to me). I miss the mark. Swiss still uses the Franc and I am happy they grew some and stuck with the currency.
I also thought like that in 2002 when Finnish Mark was replaced by Euro. I kept on converting prices back to Marks for some years, but nowadays it makes no sense anymore. The Euro is teh money now, and the possible lost national pride has recovered

The Euro is much better when traveling in Europe. Just imagine if every US state had their own currency

. Now if only the Swedes would come to their senses and ditch their crowns

Angus,
great to hear that there is some light in the end of the tunnel. I just read in our local papers that your crowns were not being exchanged in most banks anymore

, the rate was so unstable, or something. However some Islandic banks, I can think of a name Glitnir(?), have come over here in past few years, and I suppose they still exchanged crowns.