Have you ever put a bill in the vending machine just to have it spit it back out because it’s damaged? Even though only about 9% of Americans typically use cash to pay for their purchases, paper bills are still widely used and accepted throughout the United States. However, what happens to that $1 bill that has a tear in it? 

If your bill only has minor damage, you can bring it to your local bank to have it replaced, but if the damage is more extensive, the process for replacing the bill gets a bit more complicated. As long as you have at least 51% of your bill remaining, you have to send the damaged bill to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing along with a statement affirming how the bill was damaged. 

The process that your bill (or bills) will go through is lengthy. After the bills are sent to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, armored carriers transport it to one of several high-security federal facilities. Then, teams of inspectors manually go through the bills looking for any counterfeit bills and also start piecing together the remnants of the bills. Eric Walsh, manager of the Mutilated Currency Division at the Department of Treasury, says people often send in bills that have suffered from house fires or natural disasters, and his department is able to fully reimburse those affected with a check. For example, when someone sends in cash that has gone through something like a house fire, the inspectors use scalpels and other tools to separate the bills from each other and piece them together so that the department is able to send them a check. “We reimburse, annually, about $40 million. . . . We’re called upon when a lot of people hit their low point, so any relief that you could provide someone after they lost all their money in a flood or after their house burned down is very rewarding” says Eric Walsh in an interview with Great Big Story. He also says that “it’s a free service the government provides.”

Clearly, this is a great and useful service that you hopefully never have to use. Even though cashless payments are becoming more and more popular, many people still use and store cash that could be damaged, like in a house flood. However, this service provided by the Department of Treasury is free of charge and has your back in case of such a disaster.