Cypriots will be dragged reluctantly into the euro zone on January 1, giving up one of the last remnants of their colonial past to forge closer ties with their European Union partners.
Joining at a rate of one euro worth 0.585274 Cyprus pounds, islanders are told to expect a boost to foreign investment, lower interest rates and an improvement in public finances.
The last two have already happened. Cyprus achieved a rare budget surplus of 1.5 per cent of GDP in 2007 and on December 21 cut interest rates to the ECB level of 4.0 per cent.
But rising fuel prices have caused inflation to spike to 3.5 per cent last month and this has not dampened fears of broader price increases.
"I think we are going to be taken for a ride... what is wrong with our money anyway?" grumbled 70-year-old Eleni Hanna as she wheeled her shopping trolley through a maze of crates at a Nicosia fruit market.
Prices have been monitored for months, and the business community says fears that prices expressed in euro will be rounded up are misplaced.
"Competition, particularly in the retail sector, is so fierce that anyone who does attempt to overcharge or round prices up will quickly be found out," said Manthos Mavrommatis, chairman of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Surveys show 78 per cent of Cypriots worried about being cheated in the changeover and 74 per cent worried about price increases.
Having changed currency denominations three times in the past 130 years, Cypriots have learned to juggle the old with the new, but they still dislike change.
"We have gone through changes before, but I worry that I will be cheated," said Maria Poukshi, an 80-year-old selling carrots and beetroot.
She turns to a customer inquiring about the price of beetroot leaves. "Eight shillings," she snaps.
Shillings were replaced in 1955, yet any Cypriot can instantly convert eight shillings to 40 Cyprus cents. Come January 1, it may be a little harder; its €0.68.
The history of Cyprus is written on its coins, which were first used in the 6th century BC.
"Coins are not like ceramic pots, coins are a tangible link to our past and an important part of our heritage," says Eleni Zapiti, curator of the Museum of Cypriot Coinage of the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation.
"If you have a coin, you know the rulers. If you know the rulers, you know the history," she said.
So whether Cypriots like it or not, the pound will become history on January 1. Mavrommatis says most businesses are ready for the changeover.
"For some people the devil you know is always better than the devil you don't know," he said. "A large part of the population are very familiar with the euro, so it is not really a new currency for many of us," he said.