Dispose Currency Article For Free

When currency is deposited with a Federal Reserve Bank, the quality of each note is evaluated by sophisticated processing equipment. Notes that meet our strict quality criteria--that is, that are still in good condition--continue to circulate, while those that do not are taken out of circulation and destroyed.

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.

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 Federal Reserve Bank will then store the damaged bills for destruction. When enough old bills have been collected, the Federal Reserve Banks will shred them. If you take a tour of a Federal Reserve Bank, you can sometimes take home your very own unique souvenir: a bag of shredded paper money!

US currency is made out of organic materials, such as linen and cotton. These can and will decompose, be affected by fungi, etc. Indoors, however, the situation might be rather different.

Federal Reserve Cash departments work to recycle everything from office paper to shredded currency, which is the residue left over when worn or damaged currency is destroyed.

If you have damaged or mutilated currency, or need currency replaced, contact the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. If you have currency you suspect is counterfeit, contact your local Secret Service Field Office. For questions about coins, please contact the U.S. Mint.

If a bill is counterfeit, it is sent to the Secret Service. But if it's merely unfit by the Fed's standards, then the machine shreds it. Those shredded notes are sent to landfills or packaged and provided as souvenirs to the public on Federal Reserve Bank tours.

If a bill isn't ?fit for commerce,? it's shredded on the spot. Every single bill the Fed receives is sorted, analyzed, and bundled through one of the processing machines at its 28 cash processing locations. The machines are looking to verify that a bill that comes to the Fed as, say, a $20 bill is actually a $20.

Money is created within the banking system when banks issue loans; it is destroyed when the loans are repaid. An increase (decrease) in reserves in the banking system can increase (decrease) the money supply.