Few things bring as much joy as finding a banknote forgotten in the pocket of a coat from last season. The money has always been yours and you haven’t missed it, but the find is welcomed like manna from heaven.
Imagine what Mary Venegas, a 66-year-old woman living in Sacramento (USA), felt when she found the $6,000 tax bill her husband had lost four years earlier buried in her garden. The curious thing about the story is not the joy Venegas undoubtedly felt after her discovery, but that the bank refused to accept the bills she had found.
The mystery of the 6,000 dollars. Mary Venegas explained to the network CBS News Sacramento that she had lost that $6,000 four years earlier. The cash was stored in an envelope that was supposed to have been deposited by Mary at the bank to pay her taxes. At some point between her home and the bank, Venegas misplaced her money, giving rise to a mystery that, until now, has remained unsolved.
“Mary, how the hell did you lose $6,000 in cash?” the CBS reporter asked the woman who discovered the incident. “I don’t know, I’m a very, very forgetful 66-year-old woman. Somehow, the envelope of money ended up on the floor covered by a piece of cardboard,” Venegas admitted.
The strangest thing: a bank that doesn’t accept money. The envelope with the money remained half-buried in Venegas’ backyard for four years. When she found it, the woman thought her recent financial problems had been solved thanks to the “loan” she had taken out four years earlier. However, her initial relief turned to frustration when she tried to deposit the money at her Bank of America branch.
The bank refused to accept the notes because of their deteriorated condition. Dampness and fungus had taken their toll on the paper of the notes. According to the bank, the notes were too damaged to be accepted by the bank, which has a policy of not accepting or distributing damaged, stained or deteriorated money.
Recovering the “mutilated money” is possible, but not quickly. Engraving and Printing Workshop The U.S. Bureau of Foreign Exchange (BEP) uses the term “mutilated currency” to identify any currency that has been damaged to the point that banks reject it. When this happens, the BEP’s Mutilated Currency Division steps in, analyzing the banknotes and determining whether the damaged currency can be exchanged for another banknote in good condition of equal value.
In order for the value of the banknote to be restored, the banknotes must retain at least 50% of the original value, or their condition must not raise questions about their value. Banknotes can be damaged by various factors such as fire, water, chemicals, explosions, animal action, insects, rodent damage and deterioration due to burial. The process to request a refund for damaged banknotes must be done through a formand the agency’s resolution can take between six months and two years.
Venegas’ popularity accelerated the process. Venegas’ initial joy was threatened by the delay in the bureaucratic process, a considerable time for someone like Venegas who needs the money urgently. The appearance of the case on television made Bank of America reconsider its decision, and it finally accepted the recovered damaged money.
However, the bank was unable to accept the most damaged bills, so Mary Venegas was finally able to deposit $5,700 of the $6,000 she had recovered from her garden, allowing her to pay her overdue bills. The remaining $300 will have to follow the usual procedure for such cases.
The same thing happens in Spain. Losing 6,000 euros at home may not be the most common thing, but it is common for a financial institution to not accept damaged banknotes, as happened with Bank of America.
However the The Bank of Spain has a mechanism This allows the value of banknotes to be restored with new banknotes. The main requirements for the exchange are that the banknote has more than half of the original surface or when it can be shown that the missing part has been destroyed. In this sense, banknotes damaged by tear, accidental exposure to humidity or fire are accepted. On the other hand, those with signs of intentional tearing or those stained by anti-theft inks or adhesives, or with evidence of traces of these substances, are excluded.
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Image | Unsplash (Annie Spratt)
