Complaints about the mysteriously dissolving euros began accumulating in late October. An investigation revealed initially that "the destroyed bank notes came in contact with sulphuric acid, which led to the observed disintegration," the Bild newspaper reported on November 2nd.

It is believed that the bills were somehow coated with a sulphur salt, which would have formed a potent acid in combination with perspiration from a person's hands, causing the bills to decompose. Which could explain the affair as some sort of practical joke, if cruel and expensive.

But a new theory has emerged that identifies the culprits as drug users who have inadvertently caused all this. It has been surmised that a batch of crystal meth may have been contaminated with a sulphur salt. This could have been a result of the manufacturing process or an attempt to 'cut' the drug thereby increasing the overall weight and therefore profits.

The mystery has yet to be solved. But it is certain that whatever the outcome, it will be something noteworthy.