Wing 03 · The Education Wing
Questions a buried dollar can answer.
Everything here is organized by the question you would actually ask, answered plainly in the first paragraph, and illustrated only with bills from the burial. No stock photos. The dollars are the diagrams.
When money goes wrong
Why do banks refuse damaged or moldy money?
Why banks refuse moldy money
How do you exchange mutilated money with the US Treasury?
Exchanging mutilated currency
Is moldy money safe to handle?
Is moldy money safe?
What does it mean when a dollar's serial numbers don't match?
Mismatched serials + error notes
Reading the dollar in your pocket
What do all the letters and numbers on a dollar bill mean?
Dollar bill anatomy
What are the 12 Federal Reserve Banks, and which one issued your dollar?
The 12 Federal Reserve Banks
Treasury vs. Federal Reserve: who does what with your money?
Treasury vs. Federal Reserve
What money actually is
What are dollar bills actually made of?
What bills are made of
What is a fiat currency? A plain-language answer
What is fiat currency?
How much buying power has the dollar lost over time?
The dollar's lost buying power
In the queue
+ Star notes: the replacement dollars collectors hunt
+ How PMG grading works, and what a cert number proves
+ How a dollar bill is printed, plate to pocket
+ Why cash survives the washing machine
+ A field guide to the mold that eats money
+ What happens to worn-out currency (shredded, bricked, gone)