Cut money

[Adonis1x23]

My little sister just discovered scissors and she has been cutting up everything she can get her hands on. Today, those hands got a hold of my wallet. Now I have several large bills that have been cut up.

The damage isn't to bad, she cut about an inch wide strip on a 20, and a corner off of a 100 and 50--I think she just wanted to numbers. Anyway, the rest of them(mostly 1's and 5's) she cut in half.

Although I probably can't use the 1 or 5's, would a bank or store take the others? Or is all of it worthless now?

[Pyrian]

I don't even know what country you live in. Check with your bank - typically you can make such a deposit as long as you have the majority of the bill.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Usually the important bits are the ones that contain the security strips.
Again, check with your local bank.

[Adonis1x23]

Sorry, I live in the USA now.

[thubby]

google-fu got me this:
http://ask.yahoo.com/20020110.html

basically, your bank should replace the damaged ones. if you care enough, you can mail in the 1's and 5's for spiffy new ones at the leisure of the government (your lifespan+5minutes)

edit: and this (http://www.ehow.com/how_4877956_replace-damaged-money.html)

[MethosH]

I don't really think nobody really cares that much for one's and five's... I would accept them if the two half were glued together :smalltongue:

But I think, technically, in my country your little sister could end up in jail. Or her parents in that case. If I'm not mistaken deliberate destruction of money is a felony here.

[thubby]

I don't really think nobody really cares that much for one's and five's... I would accept them if the two half were glued together :smalltongue:

But I think, technically, in my country your little sister could end up in jail. Or her parents in that case. If I'm not mistaken deliberate destruction of money is a felony here.

only if the intent is to defraud. you can burn or modify all the money you like so long as you aren't trying to cheat someone.

[Katana_Geldar]

They usually make an exception for "kids who do not know better".

[Fawkes]

What country is MethosHazara from?

No jury in the US would ever convict a child for damaging federal currency.

[tyckspoon]

The trimmed notes are still legal- you need recognizably more than 50% of the bill and the value of the note must still be obvious, which I assume it is if only a corner or one end has been cut off. This does not guarantee that anybody will take them from you, as there are various reasons somebody can reject a form of payment, but they are legally considered good money (you can still have a bank swap them for fresh bills if you want.) The halved bills you will probably just want to get exchanged for new; gather up the halves if you can so the full bill is accounted for.

[MethosH]

What country is MethosHazara from?

No jury in the US would ever convict a child for damaging federal currency.
Oh! No! lol
No jury anywhere would lol
I'm just saying it's against the law here, if I'm not wrong (that is always a possibility, I'm wrong a lot).
I'm from Brazil.


only if the intent is to defraud. you can burn or modify all the money you like so long as you aren't trying to cheat someone.

I'm confused... Are you talking about your country, my country or USA? :smallconfused:

[skywalker]

The trimmed notes are still legal- you need recognizably more than 50% of the bill and the value of the note must still be obvious, which I assume it is if only a corner or one end has been cut off. This does not guarantee that anybody will take them from you, as there are various reasons somebody can reject a form of payment, but they are legally considered good money (you can still have a bank swap them for fresh bills if you want.) The halved bills you will probably just want to get exchanged for new; gather up the halves if you can so the full bill is accounted for.

Technically speaking, as long as you have 50%+1 (as you say) of the bill, a merchant cannot legally reject a transaction on the basis of being offered a "cut" note. This is because by the time you get your money out, you have already entered into a verbal contract with the merchant.


I'm confused... Are you talking about your country, my country or USA? :smallconfused:

USA.

[Jimorian]

Technically speaking, as long as you have 50%+1 (as you say) of the bill, a merchant cannot legally reject a transaction on the basis of being offered a "cut" note. This is because by the time you get your money out, you have already entered into a verbal contract with the merchant.


(Talking about the U.S. here)

This is incorrect. The "legal tender" part is only in force if there is an existing debt. Over-the-counter transactions do not count as a debt (or a contract until after the exchange), which is why stores can refuse denominations over $20, or any bill they think is suspicious, or some joker who wants to pay for a thousand-dollar tv with pennies. The only penalty is the potential loss of business. Now if you wanted to pay your credit card bill for that TV with pennies, you might have a case.

For the original OP, banks will exchange damaged bills for new ones, then they send the damaged ones back to the Treasury for destruction. In cases where the damage is beyond what a bank can judge the true value of the currency, the Treasury will handle this directly (as somebody said, probably at their own leisure). One example I heard about was stacks of cash burned in a fire. While only one small corner of the stack was identifiable with the denominations, the remaining ashes were tested to be the correct material, and with the non-redundant corners they could calculate the value and reimburse the person the full amount.

For cut bills, taping them is usually sufficient, as long as the serial number on both sides is the same.

[Mercenary Pen]

As a UK shopworker, I have occasionally taken notes that had split into two distinct pieces. From experience, I would require the entirety of the banknote (just to make certain you didn't try to spend the same money a second time), but would quietly tape it back together at the end of my shift.

[Mando Knight]

The only penalty is the potential loss of business. Now if you wanted to pay your credit card bill for that TV with pennies, you might have a case.

Got a supertanker full of pennies? I think I've got an idea for paying off my education loans... :smalltongue:

[Pinnacle]

I'm not sure, but I believe bills cut almost exactly in half are technically worth half of their value, to prevent people from cutting them in half and trying to spend them twice.

But you can just tape them back together. Bills get folded in half so often that them tearing in half completely by accident is not uncommon, after all.

There's a line, and if you have more than that, it's worth the full amount, less than that and it's worth nothing (since the other piece has the full amount).

[Yarram]

Got a supertanker full of pennies? I think I've got an idea for paying off my education loans... :smalltongue:

I know a guy, who knows a doctor, who when he divorced his wife, and had a really nasty court-case with her, he hired an armoured truck to dump her half of the money on her lawn in $1 coins.

[Syka]

As an employee of an American store...this is what I have from my managers ('cause I've had bills that were taped back together and the like).

If it's taped together, we just check to make sure the serial numbers match. They don't match, we don't take it. I've gotten up to 20$ bills that were in half but taped.

If it's just torn, but not all the way, I'll take it.

If a single corner is missing, I'll take it as long as the rest of the bill is intact. If it's a larger bill, like yours, if I check the security strip and it matches the denomination, there is no problem.


If you're worried, take it to the bank, but you should be OK.

[Jack Squat]

Yeah, so long as you still have all the pieces, scotch tape works wonders. If you're missing parts on the $1s and $5s, any remenants that are over half the size of the bill can be replaced.

On the ones missing a corner, I'd just check that the security strip, watermark, and threading on the bills are there. If the corner that's missing isn't the one with the color-change ink, I check that too. No reason a store wouldn't accept them - I guarantee they've taken ones in worse condition.

[skywalker]

(Talking about the U.S. here)

This is incorrect. The "legal tender" part is only in force if there is an existing debt. Over-the-counter transactions do not count as a debt (or a contract until after the exchange), which is why stores can refuse denominations over $20, or any bill they think is suspicious, or some joker who wants to pay for a thousand-dollar tv with pennies. The only penalty is the potential loss of business. Now if you wanted to pay your credit card bill for that TV with pennies, you might have a case.

Yes, I was quite incorrect.

[Deathslayer7]

the bank should replace any old or damaged bills which they get rid of or send to someone else to get rid of. In exchange you get fresh, crisp new ones. I also think in the U.S. that if a bill is damaged, you should send it in to get replaced.

Either then that, tape the bills back together and you shouldn't have any problem. The higher up bills, you can try at any store or exchange it at the bank.