As I was standing in line at the bank, waiting to place an order for British Pounds for a upcoming trip I was suddenly reminded of how last spring, in preparation for a trip to Istanbul and Egypt, I had gone in search of currency: Turkish Lira and Egyptian Pounds.
Naturally, my first instinct was to do the obvious: go to a currency exchange store. There was a TCX in Pointe Claire that I had used before so off I went there. When I was told that they had neither, I was somewhat surprised – I had been so sure, I had not even called in advance. “No,” she said, “we don’t deal in either.” “But wait,” she said and she went into another room and returned with a worn cardboard box which was divided up into about 15 different currencies. She searched through the dividers and removed a small pile of bills and counted it out. “that’s what I have in Lira. It’s about $18 dollars worth in Canadian, but it’s all I have.”
“I’ll take it,” I said. It was a start, a step up fromnothing. Then I asked again about Egyptian Pounds.
“Oh, no,” she said, “that’s illegal.”
“Illegal?”
“Yes, illegal.”
“Do you mean it’s illegal for you to sell me Egyptian pounds– you are a currency exchange store?”
“Yes, Illegal!”
“Is it illegal to possess Egyptian Pounds in Canada?”
“Yes, illegal.”
And that, as they say, was that.
My next idea was to try the bank. Surely the idea of possessing Egyptian Pounds in Canada being illegal was preposterous. People go to Egypt all the time. It’s where they keep the pyramids – and the mummies –when they’re not on tour. So, I asked the teller for both Turkish Lira and Egyptian Pounds. He looked carefully at his screen and then said, “just a moment,” and went looking for the manager. I hoped the police were not going to be involved. I briefly consider fleeing. The manager said, “Egyptian Pounds? Turkish Lira?”
“Yes,“ I said.
“Oh we don’t deal in that.”
But what was to be done? “Surely people still go to Egypt?”
“If I were you,” she said patiently, “I would go to the TCX. There’s one in Pointe Claire.”
I didn’t even enquire about legalities. I went back to Google. Interestingly enough there was another currency exchange in the West Island that was listed rather differently – obliquely. I called first.
“Do you have Turkish Lira?”
“Yes.”
“And Egyptian Pounds?”
“Yes.”
“It’s not illegal?” It just came out before I could stop myself.
“What?”
“Never mind,” I said, “what time do you open tomorrow?”
“Nine.”
“I’ll be there.”
I arrived at nine. It was closed. That did not augur well. A sign on the door said: “If we are closed, call this number.” I called. Someone answered. “We are not open until 10:45! Check the Google.” So, I went back at 10:45. It was closed.
I called again.
“I’m coming!”
“Ok.”
He came. In a Maserati.
Very tentatively I asked (when he was inside and behind theglass window with the small aperture): “Do you sell Egyptian Pounds?”
“Sure, how much do you want?”
“Well say $300 Canadian worth?”
He counted out a very tiny amount of bills and placed them on the counter. “There must be some kind of mistake, I said.” I knew the exchange rate.
“No, here are your Pounds.”
I looked at the money. They were British Pounds. “No,” I said, “I want Egyptian Pounds.”
“Oh. Egyptian Pounds.”
“Yes’”
There was a pause and then the process was repeated except this time there was a massive pile of bills on the counter. An Egyptian Pound at that time was worth about .0023 cents Canadian. I don’t know what it’s worth now. I realized that he had them after all and that they were probably not illegal. I took out my credit card.
“Cash only.”
“I wish that you’d said that on the phone.”
“There’s a bank six blocks down. You could walk it”
“Hold onto the bills.”
I went and I got the cash, came back and paid for the Pounds and practically ran to my car.
To hell with more Lira.
Probably illegal.
