Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren vocal bomb Here. Let's say you get
Speaker 1: a little forgetful and leave your day planner with tickets
Speaker 1: to a baseball game and two hundred dollars in cash
Speaker 1: on the roof of your car, and that day planner
Speaker 1: just happens to fall off at a railroad crossing. Everything
Speaker 1: gets bangled when the four or five freight train goes
Speaker 1: barreling through the crossing. The baseball tickets are gone, the
Speaker 1: planner is a lost cause, and all that's left of
Speaker 1: the cash is it chewed up twenty dollar bill. You
Speaker 1: can't possibly use it, can you? Or can you? Most
Speaker 1: damaged US cash, whether it's shredded by a train, damaged
Speaker 1: in a flood, or even if your dog eats it,
Speaker 1: is covered through the U. S. Department of Treasuries Bureau
Speaker 1: of Engraving and Printing or b EP, and specifically their
Speaker 1: Mutilated Currency Redemption Service. But it takes a lot for
Speaker 1: a bank note to be considered mutilated. Bills that are dirty,
Speaker 1: limp defaced, torn, or otherwise more than one half intact
Speaker 1: don't go far enough. The b e P two finds
Speaker 1: mutilated currency as bills that have been quote severely damaged
Speaker 1: to the extent that its value is questionable or security
Speaker 1: features are missing. That means that the twenty dollar bill
Speaker 1: from our railroad example is simply torn. It's no problem,
Speaker 1: get out the tape and spend away. But let's say
Speaker 1: you find a cache of cash buried in your yard.
Speaker 1: I mean that happens all the time, right. The bills
Speaker 1: have deteriorated to the point that security features such as
Speaker 1: the water marks, color shifting, inc security thread, or three
Speaker 1: D security ribbon are no longer visible or have been destroyed.
Speaker 1: Now things are a little more complicated in cases like this. Again,
Speaker 1: this happens all the time, right. You'd have to submit
Speaker 1: what's called a mutilated currency claim to the b EP.
Speaker 1: It's basically a letter describing how the currency got damaged.
Speaker 1: You'd include its estimated value and other contact information, including
Speaker 1: your banking information. You also need to send the money
Speaker 1: to the b EP, where they will examine it. This
Speaker 1: process can take anywhere from six months to three years,
Speaker 1: depending on how complicated the case and how damaged the currency.
Speaker 1: The Treasury Department has guidelines on its website about how
Speaker 1: to package up the cash for shipping. But in general
Speaker 1: you'll need to send it in the exact same condition
Speaker 1: you found it. If the currency was flat, to keep
Speaker 1: it that way. If it was in a roll, don't
Speaker 1: try to straighten it. One caveat defaced coins shouldn't be
Speaker 1: sent with paper currency coins go to the U. S.
Speaker 1: Mint for evaluation and are not redeemable for cash value,
Speaker 1: only the value of the metal. So how much can
Speaker 1: you get back for your damaged cash? That depends on
Speaker 1: what the b EP examiner finds. Treasury Department regulations state
Speaker 1: that US currency can be exchanged for full value if
Speaker 1: more than fifty of the bill is identifiable as US
Speaker 1: currency and enough of any relevant security features remain, or
Speaker 1: I or less of the bill is present, and Treasury
Speaker 1: examiners are convinced that the missing portions have been destroy
Speaker 1: The U. S. Treasury Department handles about thirty thousand mutilated
Speaker 1: currency claims annually, valued at more than thirty million dollars.
Speaker 1: The most common causes for damaged currency are fire, water,
Speaker 1: exposure to chemicals and explosives, damage from rodents, animals, or insects,
Speaker 1: and deterioration or petrification from burial. Today's episode was written
Speaker 1: by Patty Resmussen and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff
Speaker 1: is production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For
Speaker 1: more on this and lots of other topics, visit our
Speaker 1: home planet, how stuff Works dot com and for more
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