Mutilated Money

[jeffrey]

By Valerie S. Johnson

You washed your jeans, and in one pocket you find a soggy $20 bill. To redeem your cash gift, you just need to wait until it dries. But what if your money has been nearly ruined by flood, fire, chemicals, explosives, animals, insects, rodents, or backyard burial – is it gone for good?

Not necessarily. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing at the U.S. Department of the Treasury is responsible for examining and redeeming partially destroyed or badly damaged currency. If your mutilated money is legitimate, the U.S. Treasury does not send you a replacement – but it will issue a Treasury check for the face value of the currency. And there is no charge; the U.S. Treasury provides this as a free service for over $30 million in mutilated currency each year.

The definition of “mutilated currency” and more information is located on the website of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing:

more than 50% of a note identifiable as United States currency is present; or,

50% or less of a note identifiable as United States currency is present, and the method of mutilation and supporting evidence demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Treasury that the missing portions have been totally destroyed.

[MonkeyMama]

Interesting.

We used to work at an amusement park and we microwaved the wet money (collected from people who went on wet rides). Overall I wouldn't recommend it though - LOL. But it helps soggy bills - hehe.