A long, long time ago in a land not far from here lived an uneducated collector. This collector had recieved a damaged Star note in general commerce, and thought to himself, maybe if I send this damaged Star note to the BEP, they will send me a BRAND NEW Star note in exchange.Well, if any of you out there have ever tried this you would know that the BEP does NOT send replacement currency. The BEP will send a Government CHECK for the amount of mutilated currency. This was not an acceptable alternative for the collector, so after many phone calls and emails it was decided that the BEP would return the damaged Star note to the collector. This cost the BEP $13.42 in postage, and coincedentally, was postmarked on 9/11 ! I am attaching a photo of the letter, envelope, and the 2003A Philadelphia Star note, which is ALMOST a radar Star note. ENJOY BTW, if you haven't guessed by now....I am that collector.
Not to beat you up over this, but what made you think the BEP would exchange in the manner you suggested? The note in the picture does not meet the standards for mutilated currency at the BEP. It should have been returned with a note telling you to take it to your local bank to exchange. I realize this is not what you would have wanted but that is clearly their policy. BEP rules for mutilated currency http://www.moneyfactory.gov/uscurrency/damagedcurrency.html
No offense taken, and the answer lies in the first sentence of my post where I admit to being an "uneductaed collector". I know better now, and completely agree with your suggestions.
This reminds me of two stories. One involves the time I sent mutilated money to the BEP. I won it in an Ebay auction from Australia. It was all burned but large enough portions were there. I did not pay much for the lot. I sent it to BEP and received a check for $385.00. All the notes were 1934A series FRN. I kept one that was the least damaged just for show. It pained me as a collector of US government checks to cash the check but I already had that style of check in the collection. Which leads me to my other story, this one about government bureacracy. As I said, I collect US government checks. I sent in an old 10 cent war savings stamp to the Bureau of the Public Debt for redemption. They sent me a check for $.10. Although it was a style I did not have in the collection, it was a very drab looking, computer generated check from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. It said on its face that it was only valid for 6 months. Five and a half months later I received a note indicating the check had not been cashed andwould soon be stale. It advised me that I could contact them if I had lost the check and have them issue another one. I did not have the stones to do so, but I thought about playing that game and having them issue me a new check for a dime every six months just to see how long it would take before they stopped.
oh how democracy is an endless joy filled game This is a great thread almost each post made me chuckle. Thanks Steve, we are certainly glad to have +1 educated collector in our midst
