Mutilated Currency and Bent or Partial Coin (2024)

FAQs

How much of a mutilated bill do you need? ›

Currency Procedures

Under regulations issued by the Department of the Treasury, mutilated United States currency may be exchanged at face value if: More than 50% of a note identifiable as United States currency is present.

Mutilated currency is currency which has been damaged – to the extent that: (1) one-half or less of the original note remains; or (2) its condition is such that its value is questionable.

Examples of this altering include, but are not limited to: Mutilation occurs when a person intentionally damages or defaces a coin, reducing its value. This can include scratching, carving, bending, or breaking the coin. Diminution is the act of reducing a coin's value by removing or altering its metal content.

“Unfit currency' is currency which is unfit for further circulation because of its physical condition such as torn, dirty, limp, worn or defaced,” the department states on its website. The currency “may be exchanged at commercial banks.”

The Bank replaces damaged banknotes, including those torn or burnt, with new banknotes, according to the proportion of the part of the original banknote remaining, provided that both front and reverse sides of the banknote are maintained.

For example, dirty or worn currency may be exchanged at a commercial financial institution. For information on mutilated coins, visit the U.S. Mint's website.

Under regulations issued by the Department of the Treasury, mutilated United States currency may be exchanged at face value if more than 50% of a note identifiable as United States currency is present.

Often times, even financial institutions won't accept cash if it's too damaged. This is because the Federal Reserve does not accept deposits of mutilated money from banks and credit unions.

If you have damaged or mutilated currency, or need currency replaced, contact the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

Bent or Mutilated Coins

Some stores and banks will take coins at face value if they're not too badly damaged, but it's totally at their discretion. Banks will then forward them to the Federal Reserve for deposit and replacement. If they're in really bad shape, you can send them to the U.S. Mint.

What do banks do with mutilated money? ›

As long as more than half of the original note is clearly present—and it doesn't take special examination to determine the note's value—a commercial bank can then include the note in its deposit to the Federal Reserve.

Mutilated coins submitted for redemption must meet the acceptance criteria listed below. Contact us with questions at MutilatedCoin@usmint.treas.gov or 202-354-7760. Coins submitted for exchange must be clean, free of debris, free of residual substance(s) on the surface, and identifiable as United States coins.

Under regulations issued by the Department of the Treasury, mutilated United States currency may be exchanged at face value if more than 50% of a note identifiable as United States currency is present.

In general, damaged coins may only be worth the value of the metal unless they are rare.

Many stores and merchants will not take torn or drawn-on bills, and even vending machines struggle to take heavily wrinkled ones. The good news is that even if a bill is torn in half, you can tape them together and exchange them at a Federal Reserve bank for fresh notes, as long as the serial numbers match.

The currency “may be exchanged at commercial banks.” You could tape the green stuff back together but be warned that merchants may not accept the bandaged bills. If you have, what the government refers to as, mutilated money then you can send the cash off to the Treasury for exchange.

In the United States, you must submit more than half (over 50 percent) of the paper bill intact. This is in part to prevent people from ripping money in half and replacing both halves to get double the money.