Will a $100 bill with a small hole in it still be accepted?

32 comments

1. [deleted]

2. Yes. It will be accepted. If you are really concerned, you can exchange it at any bank.

   https://www.stlouisfed.org/en/open-vault/2019/october/what-to-do-with-ripped-damaged-money

3. The small hole is no problem. Most places will want you to buy something to break that unless you take it to a bank. A lot of gas stations/convenience stores also have time lock safes and you will have to wait for your change a few minutes.

4. Money is money. It being ripped, torn, or holey doesn’t matter.

   In fact, if you take it to a bank they’ll replace it with a fresh bill.

   Also, keep in mind 100 dollar bills are not accepted everywhere because they’re large currency bills. Businesses don’t want to be used to break down large bills. It’s a burden. You should go to a bank and break it down to 20’s.

5. It will be accepted. Not everywhere will break them though. A grocery store, liquor store, etc., should be able to easy enough though.

6. You cant go anywhere but a bank to break them into smaller bills. Also know that $200 will likely last you a day if you py for things in cash

7. As long as both serial numbers are shown, you are fine.

8. The main thing is that both serial numbers are intact. If that’s the case (which it certainly sounds like it is) any bank will exchange it.

   You should be fine in a store though. You’ll get less grief (potentially) going to a store that would regularly receive 100’s. Walmart and large stores mostly. A gas station MAY balk at it but probably not. The reason they might is because gas stations don’t always have enough cash to make them want to break 100’s.

9. You shouldn’t need to do currecny exchanges, just use an ATM when you get here and only take out what you need.

   A lot of places just won’t accept a $100 bill at all due to fraud or scam concerns. And its kind of an asshole move to buy something small and then pay with a $100, especially if its the first thing in the morning when the store opens.

   I’d save that $100 for your big night out .

10. The easiest place to break a $100 bill would be a bank. At many gas stations/convenience stores the cashier will be unable to open the register unless you buy something, also some but not all will have policies stating that they do not accept bills over $50 some nothing over $20. And the ones that will take large bills may not have the money in the register to make change for a $100. Which means a time lock safe will be used. Most convenience stores, as well as some grocery and retail stores have these safes. A time lock safe limits how much money can be removed within a set time period. The larger the amount the longer the time. To break your $100 the employee will have to put your $100 into the bill accepter which will read your bill to make sure it really is a $100, the safe will then release $100 in smaller bills similar to the way an ATM does. Most time lock safes will not let you break two $100 bills at the same time, after doing one the safe will not allow any other transactions for a set amount of time, probably 20 to 30 minutes. This means if someone ahead of you have a bill broken, then they won’t be able to break yours for a while.

11. If you want to break a hundred at a gas station, you’d better be buying over $20 worth of stuff. Especially if they just opened and don’t even have a stock of cash in the till.

    My recommendation would be to get them exchanged by a bank.

12. The hole won’t be an issue.

    $100 bills are not commonly used, and can be hard to use. Gas stations probably won’t accept them or break them, stores that deal in higher value goods probably will, but a bank is your best bet.

13. The short answer is yes, it’ll be accepted without question. There is, however, a lot of incorrect information in here. You DO NOT need to have both serial numbers, you only need to have greater than 50% of the bill.

14. I think 2/3 of paper money is considered valid

15. Shops are not banks. You will generally need to buy something in a shop to break a $100 bill, just because most retailers won’t allow cashiers to open the till without a cash sale. It’s also a good idea to ask if they can make change before you start the transaction. A lot of places don’t keep much cash in the registers and making change for $100 may take all their small bills. Especially early in the morning. When I was in retail, a small purchase paid with $100 early in the day could cause problems making change until someone could get to the bank. And as often as not, their change would include between ten and twenty dollars in loose and rolled coin, because that’s what I had in the register.

16. As long as it isn’t ripped in half

17. Just go to a bank and exchange it for whatever denominations you want

18. >One of the $100 notes has a 2mm diameter hole in the top grey border of the note. Will this be an issue?

    It’s not a problem. As long as you have 51% of the bill, it’s useable. Though if you tried to pay for something with 51% of a bill, don’t be surprised if they turn you down, despite the fact they should take it. Nobody is going to measure to make sure it’s not 49%.

    >Also how difficult is it to break notes in America?

    Super easy for any bank or any store that takes cash. You may have an issue with stores that deal in small bills. Sometimes they won’t want hire bills because then they are stuck with them. Whereas people who pay with small bills can use those bills as change.

    >Is it expected you buy something when breaking the note or can you just walk into a gas station and ask them to break it?

    Depends on the place.

    FWIW, I was in a bar a few weeks ago and asked them to break a $100 bill. The bartender did it with no questions asked.

19. Not a gas station, just go to a bank. If you do go to a store, you’ll be expected to buy something. Also, tell the clerk before the transaction starts that you are paying with a large bill. Depending on the time of day, the clerk may not have proper change in the till for you.

20. I dont think that anyone would even bat an eye at that. Bills with minimal damage would likely be accepted everywhere, and if you have both parts of a torn in half bill, or a bill with most of it still intact, there are places you can go to exchange it for a good one iirc

21. I’m a cashier. Let me tell you, I have seen much worse than a small hole in a bill. I’ve had one dollar bills that had “Dolla make ya’ Holla” written on it as well as the word ‘one’ turned into the word “BONER”. We still accept it. Even coins that have holes punched in them.

    It’s fucking chaos.

22. Yes

23. Even if the part of the bill is missing, the bank will exchange it. They want to know what currency is in circulation.

24. As long as you have at least 5/8ths of the bill, it’s still legal tender. Stores might be hesitant to accept a bill with a significant piece missing, but banks will exchange it for one in better condition if that’s an issue.

25. OP, if you can break your hundreds before you come here, preferably to $20 bills or lower, your life will be much easier. Not all, but many places will not break hundreds or even accept them as payment, and most commercial establishments will not break any bill without a purchase. Easier to do it at home, when you’re not under a time crunch or needing to pay for something immediately.

26. I spend plenty of $100 bills and I have never taken them to a bank. Where are you going that they won’t take a $100 bill. These days ALL retailers have counterfeit ink pens that identify counterfeit money.

27. Break them at a bank. Most stores prefer 20s 10s or 5s. Your hole is miner.

28. Even if it’s ripped in half they’ll take it and if there is an issue than all you would have to do is take it to the bank to get it exchanged.

29. Go to any bank/credit union and ask to exchange your bills for $20s. A hole won’t be an issue, technically US bills are valid if you have over 50% of the paper. $20 bills will be the best bills to carry during your trip.

30. I believe the rule is you have to have over 50 percent of the bill left for it to still be good.

31. As long as you have 51% of the bill its fine. You can go to a bank and exchange it if you feel weird about it.

32. Some American banks won’t change bills if you don’t have an account make sure it does before you go down.