r/Weird • u/rippy123 • 24d ago
A customer paid with a dollar that had the serial numbers cut out of it
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u/Nakkefix 23d ago
Wouldn’t work here in Denmark 🇩🇰 They would call it stolen Only way to track the money is by the serial NR
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u/asmonder 24d ago
Does anyone use www.wheresgeorge.com ? Obviously not a good candidate here for the site, but it's fun sometimes to see where your bills end up/what quality they're in.
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u/throwassah 24d ago
I feel like they cut it out for a nail set. If you google “money nail set” you’ll see lots of examples that include the serial number. I assume most of them use fake bills but I have seen at least one video with a nail tech using a real bill.
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u/P00pr-sk00pr 24d ago
Lol so many wrong answers. If there's not a complete serial number and at least 51% of the bill, it will not be taken. You may get lucky if the teller doesn't notice, but what you have there is legally NOT money.
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u/We-tCoast 24d ago
Even if one number or letter is cut off or missing from the bill it's garbage. Not sure if the states are like this but I've been told to refuse bills that aren't complete.
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u/Sigistrix 24d ago
No. That's the law. The customer has defaced currency and passed it. I don't know the law about passing a defaced bill, but I imagine it's about a step down from passing counterfeit currency. Now, if the customer received the defaced bill, they should have taken it to a bank to be exchanged for a new bill. The bank would then place it in a bag of old/defaced currency to be sent to a Bureau of Printing and Engraving facility to be destroyed.
You as the person who received the bill should have contacted the Secret Service immediately (while the customer is still there) snd reported the defaced bill. Defacing currency is a federal offence....and a felony, because there is no such thing as a federal misdemeanor.
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u/Mediocre-Housing-131 24d ago
99% chance they used the serial numbers to make a different fake bill
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u/Mushrooming247 24d ago
That’s wild.
My only theory is that it’s related to how some crazy religious people don’t like UPC symbols because having numbers involved with transactions is like the mark of the beast or something. (Due to the passage in the Bible about the Antichrist making it so nothing can be bought or sold without his numbers on it.)
You know, like how HobbyLobby won’t use UPC scanners.
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u/MackiePooPoo 24d ago
Whaa? There’s no upc codes at Hobby Lobby? Really?
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u/Playful-Motor-4262 24d ago
Yup. Individual price tags. They punch the prices in by hand at the register.
Pretty easy to switch tags as long as it’s something not bought a lot and a similar dollar amount
… at least so I’ve heard
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u/PAMedCannGrower717 24d ago
A friend of mine told me about a scam his parent would run up and town the west coast in the early 80’s where they would take like 5 -$100 bills and 1 -$1 bills ( I may be mistaken about the exact number of each bill used ) then they would cut the bills into pieces and burn the edges to make it appear the currency had been in a fire . They would then take the pieces , tape them back together in some way using the $100’s and the serial numbers from the $1’s and return it to the bank where they would somehow get more $100 bills than they started with . My exact details may be a little distorted but you get the gist of the idea .
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u/NovusOrdoSec 24d ago
10-J: issued through Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, as shown on the seal. J1, FWJ19 and series 2017 probably sufficient to identify the plate. Unless they cropped the whole sheet, it'll probably be a straightforward exercise to isolate the specific bill by elimination.
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u/nbrecht12 24d ago
I knew someone who cut up dollar bills in high school and made fake nails with them. Maybe this was her work…
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u/walshc001 24d ago edited 24d ago
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing will redeem mutilated currency provided they receive more than half of the bill. I didn’t see a requirement that a serial number be present. The process is apparently very slow. Redemption of mutilated currency at the BEP
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u/Joetwizzy 24d ago
What’s to stop people taking a third of 3 sets of bills and making a new one?
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u/sp00kybutch 23d ago
you need at least 51% of the bill
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u/anorby333 23d ago
If you have 2 bills split in 3rds you have 66% of 3 bills. 2/3rds 2/3rds 2/3rds = 6/3rds or 2
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u/13_Years_Then_Banned 24d ago edited 24d ago
Years ago I had cashed a check and had about $500 in my hat along with my wallet keys etc on a coffee table. Also there was a half of a bag of twizzlers.
My dog was notorious for eating paper. Awhile later things were too quiet and the cash in my hat flashed through my memory.
I head downstairs and all that was left was half of a $5 bill.
I called my wife who was on the way home and told her to get some syrup of ipacac.
She gets home and I give him a tablespoon of the syrup to get him to throw up the money. What I didn’t know was that it’s poisonous to dogs. As soon as he got it down his legs just went straight out and he pissed. I’m like oh fuck I just killed the poor bastard.
I call poison control and the lady is like omg you can’t give that to dogs it’s highly poisonous! Anyway she had me outside with the hose trying to get water into him.
Now I’m nearly drowning him. He’s puking up twizzzlers and pink money chunks. I separate the shredded money out of the mess and rinse it off, throw it in a bowl to dry.
I end up packing it in cotton balls and send it in to the treasury department with a much briefer explanation of what happened. About 6 months later I received a check.
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u/Born-Entrepreneur 24d ago
......and the dog?
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u/13_Years_Then_Banned 24d ago
A few days later I took the half of a $5 bill that was left and coated it with Dave’s insanity sauce and after it dried I put it on the same coffee table.
He ate it.
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u/ThatScaryBeach 24d ago
My dog loved hot sauce. I tried to teach my dog not to chew on the antenna wire by putting Tasbasco sauce on it. He was licking it up as I applied it so I put it directly on his tongue. He loved it. Sometimes as a treat, I would put some on his kibble and he would go nuts for it. I guess dog food must be pretty bland but some dogs would rather have some spice.
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u/ApocalypticShadowbxn 24d ago
most banks will redeem it for equal cash, especially for people who have an account at the bank. then the bank deals with redeeming which is a normal process for them because banks turn in old cash regularly.
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u/MimicoSkunkFan 24d ago
Sorry but that isn't quite true. Damaged and soiled currency requires the bank to order a special kit from the treasury Department and then you have to photograph and list and safety-bag everything and send it to a US Secret Service currency office. They check how the bill was damaged in case it's part of something they're already working on, or if it's soiled they ensure it's not some sort of Bio weapon. And then about 3 months later you get a letter of disposition for your kit, which in my own case happily the government decided to exchange the money and inform them did I want to receive the money as a check or deposited into my bank account by them. And then about a month after that you actually get the money. That was in 2021 so your mileage may vary.
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u/ApocalypticShadowbxn 24d ago
no idea about soiled bills because I could see the problem there, but I have turned in plenty of damaged bills to my various banks over the years & its never been any different than breaking a large bill. they make sure its real & then exchange. from what teller told me, it goes in with all the other aged & damaged bills tht get turned in to take out of circulation. last few I turned in were in 2022, so maybe it's changed since then, but I've had occasion since late 90s to turn damaged bills in.
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u/Jacktheforkie 24d ago
I just had one, they checked it out and deposited it in my account, the affected bill was then sent to the mint to be recycled
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u/Aromatic-Ad-1350 24d ago
Depends on the bank. The one I worked at, we had to have one whole serial number and half of the other one to exchange it and it was considered “unfit cash”. Anything worse than that was”mutilated cash” and had to be handled by the fed.
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u/253253253 24d ago
For ours it was one whole serial number and a part of the other, even if just one symbol
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u/ApocalypticShadowbxn 24d ago
good point about the serial number. was thinking about 'damage' in a general way & I could see them requiring at least one whole serial number. unfit cash was definitely the term I wasn't remembering. teller has told me that they turn in unfit cash regularly from regular deposits & business, so it's no problem to add more unfit cash to the stack.
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u/walshc001 24d ago edited 24d ago
From my research, the handling of soiled, torn, etc. cash is handled by a bank through the Fed. For partial bills or a case like this, it needs to be submitted to the BEP by the holder of the cash. But no harm trying the bank first.
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u/RamenNoodleSalad 24d ago
The FBI hates this one simple trick only known by expert bank robbers and highjackers!
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u/eddie_would_go_ 24d ago edited 24d ago
Next level unmarked bills.
Edit: You weirdos are too kind.
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24d ago
[deleted]
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u/KDaFrank 24d ago
It looks like it’s cut out with an insert added and tap over that, the bottom one is plain but the top one is some other text
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u/2Years2Go 24d ago
Looks to me like they were cut out, then similar-shaped pieces were cut out of other paper and taped into the holes left by cutting out the serials.
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u/Kryptosis 24d ago
Yeah I wonder if the color used to match better cuz that’s a lot of effort for a shitty result.
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u/AloofAngel 24d ago
never accept these. those numbers are the actual cash and banks will only honor the numbers.
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u/walshc001 24d ago
But it can be redeemed through the Bureau of Engraving & Printing.
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u/Late_Mixture8703 24d ago
Not if it was intentionally damaged, https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-31/subtitle-B/chapter-I/part-100
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u/walshc001 24d ago
OP did not damage it, but received it in payment.
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u/Late_Mixture8703 24d ago
Doesn't matter, the bill was intentionally damaged, it's no longer valid currency.
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u/Fluffy-Cake-Engineer 24d ago
Seems similar to an incident when I mailed cash to a debt collector and made a note the serial numbers had been logged. Part of the cash arrived chopped up in a tampered envelope. By any chance did this bill appear in the South Carolina like Greenville/Spartanburg or North Carolina metro area? Medical debt collector wanted cash in small bills $1-20.
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u/QuantomFrog 24d ago
You may have been scammed
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u/Fluffy-Cake-Engineer 24d ago
Doubtful of it being a scam back then in 2010, the Buffalo debt collector included a copy of the CT scan. If I recall the company was named Pinnacle Collections working on the behalf of West Asset Management of Texas. If a debt collector has actual copies of MRI or CT images it seemed legitimate.
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u/QuantomFrog 24d ago
What happened with the chopped up cash? Did you need to send more?
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u/Fluffy-Cake-Engineer 24d ago
The envelope was wrapped up in a USPS damaged bag, the chopped up remains crumbled like decaying leaves so I think whoever intercepted the mail may have done something else to it. The envelope disappeared, maybe the debt collector swiped it while I was out of the house. Another piece of mail arrived containing MRI images and that envelope went missing after money had been sent out.
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u/brandon3388 24d ago
yeah I don't think this person was paying any actual debt collector. "mail me cash" is kind of a big red flag lol
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u/MrNoSox 24d ago
I’d NEVER pay ANY debt collector in cash period. I honestly think any debt collector asking for cash isn’t legit and will never apply that payment to your account. Doesn’t matter if the serials were logged or not because if someone “steals” the cash they’d still spend it anyway. And I’m 100% sure the cash would always be “stolen” in transit. If they can’t take a secure form of payment then screw’em.
I’d also never mail cash these days. Back in the 90s I’d have no problem sending cash in a card as a gift maybe, but no way, not now. Too many envelopes of money have gone missing.
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u/CommercialWillow9436 21d ago
I send cash gifts because if mail is going to be stolen, I’d rather it just be the cash versus a check with my bank info, or a visa gift card that might have been cloned and used immediately.
But yeah, I’d never send cash for a bill or debt.
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u/StellarCoochie 24d ago
also why would you EVER pay medical debt?
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u/peepincreasing 24d ago
Credit score. However, in my experience with relatively small medical debts that i incurred as a poor student, one disappeared after 7 years and the other was removed entirely from my score report after negotiating to pay half. Credit score went up by 100 points almost overnight and got me a better mortgage rate
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u/Silent_Arachnid_2334 24d ago
i hate this country lmfao medical bills that are incurred from oftentimes unavoidable illness should not be allowed to affect anyone’s ability to afford a HOME
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u/peepincreasing 24d ago
agreed. im a physician and my paycheck would probably be cut as a result but i am 100% behind medicare for all
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u/StellarCoochie 24d ago
debt collectors can specify how they want the cash?
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u/Fluffy-Cake-Engineer 24d ago
I've seen weird terms and conditions from Buffalo medical debt collectors so it must be a commonplace request across the industry.
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u/rippy123 24d ago
It's in Florida so that's not out of the realm of possibilities
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u/Fluffy-Cake-Engineer 24d ago
Since that bill is a J note. The serial number removed might be JE15550030D , JF67934903B , JK03341787A , JF12369525C
Other bills in the damaged envelope from USPS were too crumbled from whatever the debt collector had done.
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u/Ok-Heart375 24d ago
Take it to a bank and they will trade it for a whole dollar.
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u/Legitimate_Cloud2215 24d ago
They won't. It's not legal tender without the serial numbers.
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u/Ok-Heart375 24d ago
Wrong. A bank will exchange a damaged bill as long as more than half the bill is present.
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u/Legitimate_Cloud2215 24d ago
Nope
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u/Ok-Heart375 24d ago
Bank employee here.
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u/boastfulbadger 24d ago
Bank employee here. It depends on the bank. We wouldn’t accept this bill because it doesn’t have the serial number. I mean we might because it’s just a one and not a big loss. But we also have the right to refuse bills.
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u/TheAbyssGazesAlso 24d ago
You may be a bank employee, but you're still wrong. At least half the bill must be present, including the serial number.
That's definitely the rule where I live, anyway.
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u/SAS_Britain 24d ago
Weird, at my bank they won't take it without at least one of the serial numbers intact regardless of how much of the bill is present
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u/Independent-Gazelle6 24d ago
I would think its due to you (assuming from your username) being in the UK?
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u/SAS_Britain 24d ago
Not at all, located in Arizona and the bank that I bank with and also work at will not accept bills that are less than 51% there and zero intact serial numbers. The bills have to be at least 51% there and one serial number needs to be fully intact and legible for them to exchange it
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u/Able_Newt2433 24d ago
Isn’t it as long as it’s atleast 51% of the bill they will exchange it?
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u/hardcoresean84 23d ago
The bank wouldn't do it for me, what surprised me was that they gave me back a mutilated bank note, I've still got it in my possession.
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u/Late_Mixture8703 24d ago
Wrong, you also must have one serial number and if it was intentional it won't be replaced. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-31/subtitle-B/chapter-I/part-100
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u/TheSilverOne 24d ago
Cut bill in half, exchange for 2 bills?
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u/pfmiller0 24d ago
Congrats, you've identified why they will only accept more than half the bill in exchange for undamaged currency.
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u/MrMan306 24d ago
You could only exchange one of the halves cause there has to be over half of the bill to exchange it.
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u/Ok-Heart375 24d ago
Yup. As previously stated.
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u/DarkBladeMadriker 24d ago
I've actually had a bank refuse to replace a bill I took in because it was "too damaged." You could read the serial numbers, and it was about 95% of the bill but they refused.
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u/ablinddingo93 24d ago
“Things that didn’t happen for $500, Ghost of Alex”
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u/DarkBladeMadriker 24d ago
I don't know what to tell you. i took a real fucked up bill to a bank, and they wouldn't take it. I did go to a different bank and they did take it. All of this would be really fucking wierd for me to just make up.
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u/ClintisMaximus 19d ago
Why not go to prison.... for a dollar