Concerning "old" European money.... if it's from one of the countries who use Euros now it has become a bit complicated to exchange it into Euros. For about half a year it was possible to do that at every bank, but now you have to go to the central bank of a country (which usually has branches at big cities) to exchange it. This is the case for: Belgium, Germany, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, San Marino, Spain and Vatican.

hth Baerbel near Stuttgart, Germany (who exchanged old German marks to Euros just yesterday)