Language and the euro it is actually written on the euro notes in Greek as . Also, the spelling (resulting in a plural ) on the notes could have confused other Europeans, who might read it as a string of Latin letters: "eypo". A plural form "evra", as if from a regular declinable neuter noun in "-o", is sometimes used in a jocular way. For the cent, the terms used in Greece are , plural ("leptó", plural "leptá"), a name used for small denominations of various ancient and modern Greek currencies, including the drachma (which the euro replaced). The word means 'minute' (literally "thin"),
European Currency Unit opportunity for foreign diversification without reliance on the currency of a single country. The ECU was conceived on 13 March 1979 as an internal accounting unit. It had the ISO 4217 currency code XEU. On 1 January 1999, the euro (with the code EUR and symbol €) replaced the ECU, at the value €1 = 1 ECU. Unlike the ECU, the euro is a real currency, although not all member states participate (for details on euro membership see Eurozone). Two of the countries in the ECU basket of currencies, UK and Denmark, did not join the eurozone, and a third,