Does cash expire

[Wendy1985]

I tried googling it it says it does like a 1 dollar bill expires in 18 months?any truth it sounds false

 

[caytlyn]

I think that might mean the average "life" span of a dollar bill in rotation. At about 18 months it gets frayed, ripped, faded etc...

 

[JimMIA]

It doesn't "expire." It's always legal tender, however long you keep it. The Treasury Department removes all denominations of currency from circulation when they become damaged due to use.

 

[bcla]

No currency produced by the US federal government has ever expired. They're all valid for the face value. That doesn't mean that any business is required to accept them.

That's as opposed to the UK, where their notes will expire. They can still be exchanged at banks and (apparently) post offices.

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/exchanging-old-banknotes

Not sure exactly how it works in Scotland, where apparently there are no legal tender notes. They still have private banknotes (like they use in Hong Kong).

 

[bcla]

It doesn't "expire." It's always legal tender, however long you keep it. The Treasury Department removes all denominations of currency from circulation when they become damaged due to use.

Banks are also supposed to turn in certain outdated notes for destruction regardless of condition. I've heard that if a bank ever gets anything over $100, a gold or silver certificate, or a US Note (with a red seal) they're supposed to send it to the Fed for destruction. They're usually worth more on the collectors market though.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Please send all expired cash to me. I will take care of its disposal.

 

[ICF]

is this a joke?

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

As far as I know, it has no expiration date... now it might have a "lifespan" as in wearing out due to use.

I used to be a teller and we would see those "old school" bills from time to time... we treated them as we would any other bills. On the teller line we were not given any instruction to turn in bills that were of a certain age. We would use them in circulation in our drawers as if they were the newer ones. Of course they would eventually get handed out to customers or bundled and turned in to the vault with everything else. I don't know what happened to stuff once we sent it to the vault.

 

[Wendy1985]

is this a joke?

no legitimate question I have cash I am holding on to in case I come across a vendor that does not take Apple Pay but even small business take it kinda surprises me

 

[Deb]

Banks are also supposed to turn in certain outdated notes for destruction regardless of condition. I've heard that if a bank ever gets anything over $100, a gold or silver certificate, or a US Note (with a red seal) they're supposed to send it to the Fed for destruction. They're usually worth more on the collectors market though.

Anything over $100 is not supposed to be in public circulation. They were printed for large sums to be circulated between banking institutions.

 

[bcla]

Anything over $100 is not supposed to be in public circulation. They were printed for large sums to be circulated between banking institutions.

I heard that everything up to $10,000 were printed for general circulation, although some like the $10,000 were rarely printed. The $100,000 was only as a gold certificate and was apparently used for transactions between different Federal Reserve branches. But all the bigger ones were withdrawn from circulation in the late 60s because they were used for drug transactions. At least that's how I heard it went down.

A friend of mine from India told me that when he was in India, his local bank actually had $500 bills for exchange.

I heard for a while the Canadian $500 bill was popular for illegal purposes.

 

[RedAngie]

I have some “expired” $1 and $2 Canadian bills. I read that they’re still valid, but most merchants in Canada won’t accept them. I’d have to exchange them at a bank for coins.

 

[LuvOrlando]

What made you look or ask the question?
The ask is more interesting than the thing being asked.

 

[bcla]

I have some “expired” $1 and $2 Canadian bills. I read that they’re still valid, but most merchants in Canada won’t accept them. I’d have to exchange them at a bank for coins.

They truly lost their legal tender status. I guess if you had enough you could exchange them for larger bills.

https://www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes/about-legal-tender/​

As of January 1, 2021, the $1, $2, $25, $500 and $1,000 bills from every Bank of Canada series are no longer legal tender.​

I guess it's really weird how it gets handled. If a retailer really wanted to accept one, they could, knowing that they can just exchange (or deposit it) at a bank. I heard in the UK it's actually illegal for a retailer to accept a "withdrawn" banknote. They want to shunt all of the exchanges to banks.

 

[Deb]

The US is unusual that all legal tender ever issued by the federal government is still valid, most countries have a period of time you must swap your old bills/coins for new before the old loose all value other than as a collectible.

 

[bcla]

The US is unusual that all legal tender ever issued by the federal government is still valid, most countries have a period of time you must swap your old bills/coins for new before the old loose all value other than as a collectible.

Not necessarily lose all their cash value. As far as I understand it, the Bank of England's expired notes will always be redeemable for their face value at a bank or through the Bank of England. However, as a security measure they make it illegal for a retailer to accept a recalled note for a cash transaction after a certain date.

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/faq/banknote​

• Is there a limit on the age of banknote I can exchange
  No, all Bank of England banknotes are worth their face value for all time, so you can exchange a banknote of any age.

In China they recalled a series of notes in 2018, and the redemption period was only for a year. They were almost 30 years old though.

I linked to the deal in Canada, which is that they've recalled specific note amounts that haven't been produced in decades. But as far as I can tell the ability to redeem them will be indefinite and it doesn't affect older notes where the values are still in production. Also, I don't think it's illegal there to spend an old note if a retailer will take it to exchange at a bank themselves. For example, a paper $20 bill would still be valid even though current production is solely in the polymer version. I don't believe it's like the situation with the Bank of England where they've withdrawn older notes that are paper, but where the polymer notes with the same value are still printed.

In Mexico they say that retailers can take any note or coin, but commercial banks are required to withdrawn notes to the central bank when they receive them.

https://www.banxico.org.mx/banknotes-and-coins/in-the-process-of-being-withd.html​

Banknotes and coins in the process of being withdrawn from circulation continue to be legal tender. This means that their face value is the denomination stated. However, by Banco de México’s resolution, they are withdrawn from circulation by commercial banks. This means that these banknotes and coins are valid for commercial and exchange transactions but, when they arrive to commercial banks, they are set apart to be deposited in Banco de México and will no longer be handed out to the public.​

 

[Wendy1985]

What made you look or ask the question?
The ask is more interesting than the thing being asked.

Because very few places don’t take Apple Pay but I don’t want to be limited to places that take Apple Pay so I am keeping cash on me if I want to go to a place that does not take Apple Pay

 

[RedAngie]

They truly lost their legal tender status. I guess if you had enough you could exchange them for larger bills.

https://www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes/about-legal-tender/​

As of January 1, 2021, the $1, $2, $25, $500 and $1,000 bills from every Bank of Canada series are no longer legal tender.​

I guess it's really weird how it gets handled. If a retailer really wanted to accept one, they could, knowing that they can just exchange (or deposit it) at a bank. I heard in the UK it's actually illegal for a retailer to accept a "withdrawn" banknote. They want to shunt all of the exchanges to banks.

My stash of expired Canadian bills totals $7. Two $2 and three $1, so hardly worth the effort of exchanging them. I’m keeping them as souvenirs. There are also several Canadian pennies.

It’s probably time for the US to retire $1 and the rarely seen $2 bills. And pennies and nickels for cash transactions.

 

[barkley]

no legitimate question I have cash I am holding on to in case I come across a vendor that does not take Apple Pay but even small business take it kinda surprises me

in recent months i'm seeing more and more brick and mortar businesses that are encouraging the use of cash by offering significant discounts or at minimum-charging a fee for the use of alternate payment sources. we have a couple of local businesses that accept cash only while on the flip side we have some others (my doctor's office being one) that accept only credit or debit cards).

 

[prairie_girl]

My stash of expired Canadian bills totals $7. Two $2 and three $1, so hardly worth the effort of exchanging them. I’m keeping them as souvenirs. There are also several Canadian pennies.

It’s probably time for the US to retire $1 and the rarely seen $2 bills. And pennies and nickels for cash transactions.

Do you want a loonie and a toonie? (One and two dollar coins)