Mutilated currency is a term used by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Bureau of Engraving and Printing The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is a government agency within the United States Department of the Treasury that designs and produces a variety of security products for the Federal Government of the United States, United States governm ...

(BEP) and the

Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada (BoC; ) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and Canada's central bank. Chartered in 1934 under the ''Bank of Canada Act'', it is responsible for formulating Canada's monetary policy,OECD. OECD Economic Surve ...

to describe

currency A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific envi ...

which is damaged to the point where it is difficult to determine the value of the currency, or where it is not clear that at least half of the note is present. Common causes of damage are fire,

water damage Water damage describes various possible losses caused by water intruding where it will enable attack of a material or system by destructive processes such as rotting of wood, mold growth, bacteria growth, rusting of steel, swelling of composit ...

, chemicals, explosives, damage caused by animals (including consumption of the currency) or damage from extended burying of the currency. Replacement of mutilated currency is a free public service provided by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. In general, mutilated U.S. paper currency can be submitted for evaluation. If it is determined that at least half of a bill is present, the BEP will redeem its face value. When there is less than 50% of a bill present, then if it can be identified as authentic U.S. currency, and that evidence demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Treasury Department that the missing portions have been destroyed, the face value of the bill will be redeemed in full. Annually, the BEP handles approximately 30,000 claims, with currency redemptions valued at over $30 million. The term is also used by the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, which will replace mutilated banknotes under a similar list of requirements and conditions to those used by the BEP.

Classification

Banknotes which are merely very dirty, or very worn out, but where the value is clear, are not considered mutilated and can be either spent as normal or traded in at any bank, from where they will eventually be processed out of circulation.

References

External links

Redeem Mutilated Currency
Bureau of Engraving and Printing

Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Bank Note Redemption Service
Bank of Canada Banknotes of the United States Banknotes of Canada {{Money-stub

Classification

See also

References

External links