41.   Still, the investigators have asked everyone in possession of the false euro notes to either destroy them or turn them over to the police.

42.   Stories abound in rural Portugal of con men who have bilked the elderly of their life savings, persuading them to swap hoarded escudos for forged euro notes.

43.   Stores across Italy and much of Europe complained over the weekend that they had run out of small-denomination euro notes and coins to make change with.

44.   The EU added that problems remained in the transport of small denomination euro notes and coins as retailers and banks are eager to off-load old national currencies for disposal.

45.   The fourth in line, Aer Lingus airline porter Noel Carroll, was admiring his crisp euro notes.

46.   They also made sure that each denomination of euro note is a different length.

47.   Transport of euro notes was also underway but details were being kept secret for security reasons, officials said.

48.   While euro notes are uniform in design across the European Union, some features are decided by participating countries themselves.

49.   While there have been no cases yet of counterfeit euro notes turning up, Solbes said the rate of counterfeit national currencies discovered was higher than last year.

50.   While unlikely, retailers would like to see euro notes and coins distributed to consumers in advance of the transition launch date, when they become legal tender.