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How To Replaced Damaged or Mutilated Money

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What do you do when a dog has eaten your money? Well, you wait until it comes out, then you soak it, wash it, rinse it, and repeat a lot. Ewww…

But what if it’s been damaged or mutilated to the point where you can no longer use it? That’s when you call in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to get a replacement.

If you have more than 50% of the bill, just mail it “Registered Mail, Return Receipt Requested” (or personally deliver it) to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing along with a letter explaining the estimated value of the bill and how it got that way. If you have less than 50%, do the same but you better do a much better job with the letter as they have to believe that the rest of the bill has been destroyed.

If the damaged money are bills, send it to:

Department of the Treasury
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Office of Currency Standards
P. O. Box 37048
Washington, D. C. 20013

If they are coins, send it to:

Superintendent
U. S. Mint
Post Office Box 400
Philadelphia, PA. 19105

If they aren’t damaged or mutilated and they’re just dirty, defaced, worn out, or a little torn, then bring them back to your bank for a replacement. This only applies if you can definitely tell what the value of it is and it’s clearly more than 50%, though the site doesn’t really tell you what “clearly more” really is. If it’s a little corner tear, that’s probably clearly more.

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5 Responses to “How To Replaced Damaged or Mutilated Money”

  1. Jason P. says:

    I used to work at a bank and would do this for our customers. They could just bring in the >/=50% currency and we would exchange it. Then we would take care of sending the mutilated currency in and getting new ones back. Check to see if your bank will do that for you, makes it much more convenient.

  2. mbhunter says:

    I had heard that if you have more than 60% of the bill, you can exchange it for a new bill. If you have between 40% and 60% of the bill, you can exchange it for half its value.

    Will they give you a break if you have 59% of the bill? Probably. They’re printing them so fast they have a few to spare. ;)

  3. CK says:

    Do they mail you the bill back?

  4. baruch says:

    I have a friend whose kinfolks had buried some paper money, not a lot, probably in the range of $600.00 to $900.00. It had been bundled together with a rubber band around it so that it was compressed fairly tightly. It looked as though it had been in a plastic bag of some sort and by the looks of it, it had gotten very wet and muddy at one point. It is now dried out and stiff but not all to pieces. Can my friend and I put the dirty dried bills in a wire basket or strainer and place it above a slow column of steam and very gently with much patience separate the bills one at a time let them dry again individually? If you have a better idea or another method please let me know. Thanking you in advance.
    baruch


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