In case you haven’t already heard it or seen it in the news, Stores, Shops, ATMs, & Banks all around the United States are not accepting what the Bureau of Engraving, the Secret Service, and the Advanced Counterfeit Deterrence (ACD) Steering Committee has designated as “mutilated” dollar bills.
While the exact metric that determines whether or not a dollar bill qualifies as “mutilated” is more qualitative than quantitative, there are ways that you can check if your cash would fall into that category.
How can you tell if a dollar bill is ‘mutilated’?
To an extent, identifying a dollar bill as mutilated might fall into the common sense category, with anything ripped, torn, or otherwise damaged being considered “mutilated”.
According to the Federal Reserve, a banknote that is not suitable for further circulation because of its physical condition is considered ‘mutilated’ if the bill has been so damaged that only 50% or less of it remains, or if its condition is such that the value of the note itself is questionable.
Once a dollar bill reaches this level of deterioration or damage, it will no longer be accepted as currency unless you file a mutilated currency claim with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
What do you do with your ‘mutilated’ dollar bills?
As stated above, specific legal avenues exist to redeem ‘mutilated’ currency, specifically, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s “Mutilated Currency Claim”.
To file a Mutilated Currency Claim you first need to ensure that at least one of the two of the following things are true about the mutilated currency you plan to redeem:
- Over 50% of the dollar bill is present and identifiable, and if possible also includes remnants of any security features for each bill.
OR
- 50% or less of the dollar bill is identifiable as United States currency, but the method of mutilation and supporting evidence demonstrate to the satisfaction of the BEP that the missing portions have been destroyed. (This ensures that nobody is capable of submitting more than one separate Mutilated Currency Claim for a dollar bill that has been split or torn into fragments)
For a step-by-step guide on how to file one of these claims, you can find one on the Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s website.