Have you washed a 500-hryvnia bill with your jeans? In the minibus, they discreetly stuck a banknote glued with tape? The store refused to accept the worn UAH 200? What to do with damaged banknotes?
According to the law, most damaged bills and coins can be exchanged at a bank. And there is damage with which money are required to accept and in stores. Let's figure it out.
1. Scuffs and dirt
This is the most common reason for the reduced life of a banknote. At the same time, money with scuffs, dirt and even small stains, for example, from oil or paint, must be accepted in the store - provided that all images are clearly visible.
Important! The life of banknotes largely depends on the denomination - the lower it is, the faster the banknote decays. A century of UAH 100, on average, is short-lived - 1.5-2 years, but a 500-hryvnia banknote can circulate for 5 years.
2. Extraneous characters
The idea of writing your phone number on a banknote and putting it in a book may seem romantic, but in fact, using the banknotes as paper for notes and messages, you shorten their life. According to the rules, if there is an extraneous inscription of 2 characters or more on a banknote, or a drawing, an imprint of a stamp, it is considered dilapidated and removed from circulation. You can pay with it in the store, but as soon as it reaches the bank, the bill will be destroyed. Money with a manufacturing defect can only be exchanged at a bank.
Important! If you happen to have a banknote on which there are marks of the state mark "Sample", "Test", other similar inscriptions, applied by the manufacturer, it will have to be left as a souvenir or thrown away - such bills are insolvent, they will not be exchanged.
What to do with damaged money: torn, scribbled, painted / istockphoto.com
3. Tears and cuts
Paper is a short-lived material, so quite often banknotes have "wounds" of different calibers, both compatible with the life of money, and not so much. They will accept banknotes with such damage in the store: small punctures, there is not enough corner or edge, money is slightly torn. If a significant part is missing (money is soaked, burned, got into acid, torn into several parts, etc.), you need to collect all the fragments, glue them together if possible and take them to the bank for expertise. After verification, the money will be exchanged.
Important! If less than 55% of the banknote remains, it will not be accepted either in the store or from the bank. You just have to throw it away.
What to do with damaged money: torn, scribbled, painted / istockphoto.com
4. Banknotes colored
This can happen if you accidentally leave money in the pocket of your clothes before washing. Banknotes just faded or stained, but all the designations, numbers and letters are readable? Such money can be exchanged at the bank without any problems.
Important! Damage during washing may not be very noticeable to the naked eye, but it will show up when checked at the checkout using ultraviolet light. This can happen with a strong chemical attack such as bleach or stain remover. Such bills can also be exchanged.
5. The bill peeled off
You can collect a Frankenstein banknote if you have 2 damaged banknotes of the same denomination and they fold into 1 according to the figure. The main condition is that each of the parts must be at least 50% of the total area of the banknote. Such a bill will be exchanged at the bank. But a banknote that has lost its front or back side, that is, stratified, cannot be exchanged.
6. What to do with damaged coins
Metal coins last longer than banknotes and have fewer accidents. But if there is still damage, the following exchange rules apply:- if the shape has not changed, and there are only minor scratches or abrasions on the coin, you can pay with it;
- if the coin is bent, flattened, filed, there is a hole on it, but at the same time it has retained at least 75% of its mass, such a coin will be exchanged at the bank;
- if the coin has melted or changed color under the influence of an aggressive environment, it can be exchanged;
- a coin completely without an image or part of a coin will not be accepted even for exchange.
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