• sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    10 days ago

    Somewhat hilariously, that is still valid legal tender, technically.

    More than 50% of the bill is still intact, as are most of its security verifcation areas.

    Now obviously in practice this probably would not work well in most real world situations, but, it technically is still valid currency.

    https://www.frbservices.org/resources/financial-services/cash/exception-processing/mutilated-currency

    https://legalclarity.org/will-a-bank-exchange-a-ripped-or-torn-bill/

    But also, intentionally damaging the bill is… technically a crime.

    https://lawshun.com/article/is-it-against-the-law-to-rip-a-dollar-bill

    In summary, doing this to a hundo and then trying to deposit it at a bank is more or less guaranteed to be an interesting time.

    • davel@lemmy.ml
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      10 days ago

      A lifetime ago I was once a bank teller. Banks are supposed to accept them and return them to the government for destruction. We were taught how to evaluate damaged bills. If a bank gives you a hard time for no good reason, just try another.

      • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        10 days ago

        … The problem is that ‘for no good reason’ is uh, lets say, up to interpretation, and if you go to enough banks, you may end up getting arrested or trespassed for simply consistently holding the position that ‘this is legal tender’, depending on your attitude and the attitudes of everyone else involved.

        Public nuisance? Attempted fraud? Trespassing? Disorderly conduct? Disturbing the peace? Impeding/hampering the operation of a legal business?

        All potentially on the menu.

        This is what I meant by ‘interesting’, lol.

        Its … like a thing Tyler Durden / The Narrator would do for fun.

        Maybe your bank account goes up by $100, maybe you end up in jail, maybe you just end up pissed off.

        • davel@lemmy.ml
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          10 days ago

          Those hypotheticals are more lurid fantasies than likely occurrences.

          • Art3mis@lemmy.world
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            10 days ago

            There was a black guy in the US a couple years ago that won a law suit because a bank wouldnt accept a check from him on grounds of suspected fraud. He went to deposit the winnings and it happened again so he sued again and won again.

          • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            10 days ago

            Nah, I’ve had half of those threatened to me after my identity got stolen and I had to go to a bunch of physical locations to reset a bunch of accounts.

            If somebody is more conviced you’re doing fraud, than trying to recover from it?

            They’ll call the cops.

            • davel@lemmy.ml
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              10 days ago

              That sucks, but was a very different situation from asking your bank to accept a damaged benny.

    • NotSteve_@piefed.ca
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      10 days ago

      In Canada a note is still valid as long as it’s got at least 51% of the total area still remaining. No idea about the US but I assume it’s similar

      • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        10 days ago

        You are correct, see my other comment.

        However, there is a very significant difference between USD and CAD currency:

        … We don’t have any currency with such adorable names as ‘loonie’ or ‘toonie’, lol.

        … … If you manage to pop out the middle part of a toonie… how does that work as far as ‘is it still currency’ goes?

        • Hyacin (He/Him)@lemmy.ml
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          10 days ago

          However, there is a very significant difference between USD and CAD

          Another significant difference - while illegal to do this to USD in the US, it is NOT illegal to do this to CAD in CA.

          Unsure how law would respond to doing it to USD in CA or CAD in US. :think:

        • NotSteve_@piefed.ca
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          10 days ago

          If you manage to pop out the middle part of a toonie… how does that work as far as ‘is it still currency’ goes?

          As a child I tried very hard to do that but never managed. I dont think it’s actually possible without hand-tools and at that point I’d imagine you’d be mangling the whole thing. I’d imagine stores wouldn’t accept it but I’d guess banks would still replace it for you based on the 51% rule

          • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            10 days ago

            I had heard a Canadian acquaintance I once had say that it can be done by cycling it through fairly extreme heat and cold, the metals expand and contract at different rates, so eventually, they disconnect, or can be popped out with a whack of a mallet.

            I’ve not myself personally tried this, so… no clue how well that would actually work.

      • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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        10 days ago

        I think that’s the case here too. But there is “valid” and there is “yeah we won’t accept damaged bills”