The five and ten euro bills are the ones that suffer the most deterioration over time. It would not be the first time that one that is missing a corner, is about to break or simply seems fake due to how wrinkled it has fallen into our hands. What do you have to do to change a torn bill? From the Bank of Spain Bank Client Portal they publish some recommendations both for the care of physical money and to recover the money in the event that we have a broken one. That if not all are worth.
The lowest value banknotes are the ones that break the most
The Bank of Spain explains that, although it is increasingly common to pay with alternative means to cash such as debit or credit cards, physical money continues to be the preferred method for Spaniards to make purchases, especially when it comes to payments. Thus, euro banknotes are made with resistant materials such as cotton fibers, but despite this, it is inevitable that they deteriorate.
Lower value bills, such as those of five or 10 euros, which are the most widely used, are covered with a special varnish to make them more resistant and last longer. Despite these measures, it is inevitable that due to the continuous use to which the banknotes are exposed, they end up deteriorating.
What to do to change a torn or damaged bill
For these cases, the Bank of Spain, as indicated by Gema Ortega, from the Banknote Analysis Unit of the institution, offers the possibility of exchanging these damaged banknotes for new ones, but with some conditions. The bill must retain “more than half of its original surface” and cannot have ink stains from anti-theft systems, as Ortega mentions.
If, on the other hand, the bill is presented with less than half its initial size, it must be shown that the other part has been unintentionally destroyed. Lastly, Ortega recalls that this banknote exchange service is not offered exclusively by the Bank of Spain, but is available at all “central banks in the euro zone”.
