((PKG)) EXCHANGING DAMAGED MONEY
((VOA Russian))
((Banner: Good Money Gone Bad))
((Reporter: Lesia Bakalets))
((Camera: David Gogokhia, Mike Maisuradze))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Washington, D.C.))
((NATS))
((Pop-Up Banner: The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing will exchange your damaged US currency))
((Marvel Underwood, Bureau of Engraving and Printing))
Just trying to find the identifiable parts, like the mouth and nose, eyes, stuff like that. I’ll probably finish in about an hour. I’ve seen worse, a lot worse.
((Eric Walsh, Manager, Bureau of Engraving and Printing Division))
We are in the Mutilated Currency Division. Any money that’s been somehow damaged to the extent where you can’t determine the value, this is the only place in the world that will accept that U.S. currency.
((NATS))
((Eric Walsh, Manager, Bureau of Engraving and Printing Division))
It’s just a free service the government provides. We don’t take any taxes out. We don’t charge any fees. It’s just, kind of, like having insurance on your money. If something were to happen to it, we’re there to reimburse you for it. We require 51 percent of the note to be genuine U.S. currency and we would pay face value on it.
((NATS))
((Eric Walsh, Manager, Bureau of Engraving and Printing Division))
The largest by an individual is two million dollars that I can recall, and it was a case that a lot of people just don’t trust banks. So, when the housing market crashed about 10 years ago, they withdrew two million dollars from their account and they stored it in their garage for over a period of years, and water had, they had the money stored in a bag, but water had creeped into the bag and the notes had solidified together when they went to retrieve it. Animals like to chew up money. So, sometimes it’s just, if you leave 20 dollars on the coffee table, the dog will come and chew it up. Sometimes the dog will actually eat it and the owner will wait a few days and then wait for the dog to process it out. We do require you to wash it off.
((NATS))
((Tina Barnett, Bureau of Engraving and Printing))
This case looks like it was some kind of ATM [automatic teller machine] type of machine where it caught on fire. They’re claiming 38 thousand [dollars]. Some of the money is totally burnt. In this bag here, totally wet. Been sitting almost a year, so mold has grown on the sides of it and stuff. So, this stuff is still pretty wet, but it’s not too bad to separate and count them, count them out in batches of a 100.
((NATS))
((Eric Walsh, Manager, Bureau of Engraving and Printing Division))
Typically, all of our cases come through the U.S. Postal Service. We have a P.O. [Post Office] box, and then those are delivered to us by an armored car service. Usually get about 24 thousand submissions a year and we reimburse just north of 40 million dollars.
((NATS))
