Black market currency exchange rates

As editor of the IBNS newsletter, I publish face values of new notes,
determined by the Bloomberg currency calculator. However, I recognize that
this represents only the office exchange rates.

Does anyone know of a similar site that provides real-world "black market"
rates for currency?

On Mar 27, 2:43 pm, "Owen W. Linzmayer"
wrote:
As editor of the IBNS newsletter, I publish face values of new notes,
determined by the Bloomberg currency calculator. However, I recognize that
this represents only the office exchange rates.

Does anyone know of a similar site that provides real-world "black market"
rates for currency?

I don't think you can really calculate it. It depends on the exchange
place. A friend told me he paid $2.11 for one English pound at
Travelex Currency exchange plus 5.99 service charge. So 50 pounds
cost him $111.49 as opposed to $98.29 the official rate. From what I
remember of London, 50 pounds won't buy what $100. will buy in the
States. I'm glad I'm not going there anytime soon.

As a rule of thumb I look at the official rate and add 10 cents to it
when buying and subtract 10 cents if selling it back. It's the
service fees that kill. I always just use my ATM machine to get cash
and never had a problem. Generally the rate is closer to the "official
rate" because it's interbank but again depending on the bank the fees
will get you.

Let's face it, they are going to get you one way or an other.

I realize exchange services are going to ding you with fees, but what I'm
after is an online source for real-world rates in those countries where
there is a huge disparity between the official exchange rate and the black
market rate on the street. This is usually a problem only in third-world
countries with restricted economies.


On 3/28/07 5:57 AM, in article
, "
wrote:

On Mar 27, 2:43 pm, "Owen W. Linzmayer"
wrote:
As editor of the IBNS newsletter, I publish face values of new notes,
determined by the Bloomberg currency calculator. However, I recognize that
this represents only the office exchange rates.

Does anyone know of a similar site that provides real-world "black market"
rates for currency?

I don't think you can really calculate it. It depends on the exchange
place. A friend told me he paid $2.11 for one English pound at
Travelex Currency exchange plus 5.99 service charge. So 50 pounds
cost him $111.49 as opposed to $98.29 the official rate. From what I
remember of London, 50 pounds won't buy what $100. will buy in the
States. I'm glad I'm not going there anytime soon.

As a rule of thumb I look at the official rate and add 10 cents to it
when buying and subtract 10 cents if selling it back. It's the
service fees that kill. I always just use my ATM machine to get cash
and never had a problem. Generally the rate is closer to the "official
rate" because it's interbank but again depending on the bank the fees
will get you.

Let's face it, they are going to get you one way or an other.

In article "Owen W. Linzmayer" writes:
I realize exchange services are going to ding you with fees, but what I'm
after is an online source for real-world rates in those countries where
there is a huge disparity between the official exchange rate and the black
market rate on the street. This is usually a problem only in third-world
countries with restricted economies.

There is (obviously) no official list that maintains the black market rate.
Moreover, in most countries where there is a black market rate, it would
depend on various things what the rate will be. Depending on the person
with whom you are dealing, the place where you are dealing, the probability
that you will get caught and face some time in jail, and so on.
--
dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj amsterdam, nederland, +31205924131
home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn amsterdam, nederland; http://www.cwi.nl/~dik/

Well, periodically I see articles that reference the discrepancy between
official and black market rates and hoped that there might be a site on the
net that had estimates of the latter for various countries.


On 3/28/07 7:43 AM, in article , "Dik T. Winter"
wrote:

In article "Owen W. Linzmayer"
writes:
I realize exchange services are going to ding you with fees, but what I'm
after is an online source for real-world rates in those countries where
there is a huge disparity between the official exchange rate and the black
market rate on the street. This is usually a problem only in third-world
countries with restricted economies.

There is (obviously) no official list that maintains the black market rate.
Moreover, in most countries where there is a black market rate, it would
depend on various things what the rate will be. Depending on the person
with whom you are dealing, the place where you are dealing, the probability
that you will get caught and face some time in jail, and so on.

"Owen W. Linzmayer" wrote in message
...
Well, periodically I see articles that reference the discrepancy between
official and black market rates and hoped that there might be a site on
the
net that had estimates of the latter for various countries.


On 3/28/07 7:43 AM, in article , "Dik T. Winter"
wrote:

In article "Owen W. Linzmayer"
writes:
I realize exchange services are going to ding you with fees, but what
I'm
after is an online source for real-world rates in those countries where
there is a huge disparity between the official exchange rate and the
black
market rate on the street. This is usually a problem only in third-world
countries with restricted economies.

There is (obviously) no official list that maintains the black market
rate.
Moreover, in most countries where there is a black market rate, it would
depend on various things what the rate will be. Depending on the person
with whom you are dealing, the place where you are dealing, the
probability
that you will get caught and face some time in jail, and so on.

Even now in Russia and Ukraine while it is perfectly legal to hold dollars
and exchange them back and forth, there still exists something of a black
market in currency exchange. Basically large size transactions are usually
denominated in dollars, and someone wanting to accumulate dollars will give
you a more favourable exchange rate than the exchange places.

Even in a lot of stores, for larger purchases they preferred payment in
dollars. So when I was in Ukraine and bought a couple of water heaters, I
paid for them in dollars and not in Hryvnia. Cars etc are still often sold
in dollars and not in Hryvnia, Ruble etc. Because of the nature of the
transaction, there will not likely be a published listing of black market
exchange rates.

Thanks for the explanation. I guess it's in my favor that such a site
doesn't exist as it means one less piece of data for me to acquire when I
publish exchange rates in the Inside IBNS newsletter's report on new notes.


On 3/28/07 12:51 PM, in article ,
"Sibirskmoneta" wrote:


"Owen W. Linzmayer" wrote in message
...
Well, periodically I see articles that reference the discrepancy between
official and black market rates and hoped that there might be a site on
the
net that had estimates of the latter for various countries.


On 3/28/07 7:43 AM, in article , "Dik T. Winter"
wrote:

In article "Owen W. Linzmayer"
writes:
I realize exchange services are going to ding you with fees, but what
I'm
after is an online source for real-world rates in those countries where
there is a huge disparity between the official exchange rate and the
black
market rate on the street. This is usually a problem only in third-world
countries with restricted economies.

There is (obviously) no official list that maintains the black market
rate.
Moreover, in most countries where there is a black market rate, it would
depend on various things what the rate will be. Depending on the person
with whom you are dealing, the place where you are dealing, the
probability
that you will get caught and face some time in jail, and so on.

Even now in Russia and Ukraine while it is perfectly legal to hold dollars
and exchange them back and forth, there still exists something of a black
market in currency exchange. Basically large size transactions are usually
denominated in dollars, and someone wanting to accumulate dollars will give
you a more favourable exchange rate than the exchange places.

Even in a lot of stores, for larger purchases they preferred payment in
dollars. So when I was in Ukraine and bought a couple of water heaters, I
paid for them in dollars and not in Hryvnia. Cars etc are still often sold
in dollars and not in Hryvnia, Ruble etc. Because of the nature of the
transaction, there will not likely be a published listing of black market
exchange rates.

"Owen W. Linzmayer" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the explanation. I guess it's in my favor that such a site
doesn't exist as it means one less piece of data for me to acquire when I
publish exchange rates in the Inside IBNS newsletter's report on new
notes.

You can find reference in news accounts, articles etc even in very recently
for black market exchange rates for currencies that are not traded, ie the
Cuban Peso or North Korean Won. But the black market rate for those
currencies is highly volatile depending on the individuals involved, and
what the circumstances of the trade are. When I was in Russia a black
market existed for dollars, but this was just prior to their being legal to
own. The only interesting offer I had when in Khabarovsk was a guy offered
me some Nicolas II 5 Rubles coins for about $50 each, which then was a bit
much and wasn't too trustful that was not a KGB informer, which would have
gotten me questioned, hassled and some monetary loss so I did not bite even
if I could have gotten the price to market rate which was then about $45 for
the .1244 oz gold coin.

In article "Owen W. Linzmayer" writes:
On 3/28/07 12:51 PM, in article ,
"Sibirskmoneta" wrote:
Even now in Russia and Ukraine while it is perfectly legal to hold dollars
and exchange them back and forth, there still exists something of a black
market in currency exchange. Basically large size transactions are usually
denominated in dollars, and someone wanting to accumulate dollars will give
you a more favourable exchange rate than the exchange places.

But this is not an exchange rate. When you pay in dollars (or euros, I think)
you will get more than when you pay in the native currency. But how much more
depends on the shop and person whom you are dealing with. In the same way,
when you pay in dollars in Europe you will be ripped off, if it is accepted
at all. There is just not a single black-market exchange rate.

Thanks for the explanation. I guess it's in my favor that such a site
doesn't exist as it means one less piece of data for me to acquire when I
publish exchange rates in the Inside IBNS newsletter's report on new notes.

For many notes the values reported will already be out of date when they are
published. What you want to publish alongside current value is inflation
rate. But even that does not give you enough information. Especially in
countries where currency is strongly regulated (as formerly in Eastern
Europe) you will see strange effects. There may be two or even more
official exchange rates, depending on the purpose (business or just travel,
in Czechoslovakia there was a factor 2 between them). The exchange rates
for such countries is just worth the paper they are written on: nothing.
(And you could get Czechoslovakian koruns *much* cheaper when you did
exchange in the West, but you were not allowed to import that money.)
--
dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj amsterdam, nederland, +31205924131
home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn amsterdam, nederland; http://www.cwi.nl/~dik/

I appreciate the information. I have not traveled to countries where there
is a black market in currency, so I was not aware of how it worked. As I
said, I will continue to publish the face values based upon official
exchange rates and leave it at that. Thanks for your help!


On 3/28/07 5:53 PM, in article ,
"Sibirskmoneta" wrote:


"Owen W. Linzmayer" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the explanation. I guess it's in my favor that such a site
doesn't exist as it means one less piece of data for me to acquire when I
publish exchange rates in the Inside IBNS newsletter's report on new
notes.

You can find reference in news accounts, articles etc even in very recently
for black market exchange rates for currencies that are not traded, ie the
Cuban Peso or North Korean Won. But the black market rate for those
currencies is highly volatile depending on the individuals involved, and
what the circumstances of the trade are. When I was in Russia a black
market existed for dollars, but this was just prior to their being legal to
own. The only interesting offer I had when in Khabarovsk was a guy offered
me some Nicolas II 5 Rubles coins for about $50 each, which then was a bit
much and wasn't too trustful that was not a KGB informer, which would have
gotten me questioned, hassled and some monetary loss so I did not bite even
if I could have gotten the price to market rate which was then about $45 for
the .1244 oz gold coin.