• The Central Bank of Ireland does not accept any liability for submissions damaged or lost in the post. We recommend that applicants check with their delivery service provider on how to correctly pack, declare and, if necessary, insure their submissions.
• Banknotes and coins must be presented in such a way that we can identify and verify that they are genuine. Applicants must make every attempt to “reconstruct” damaged banknotes prior to submission. Failure to comply with the above may result in non-payment or delayed payment.
• We do not provide for the exchange or reimbursement of foreign banknotes or coins.
• We exchange damaged euro banknotes in accordance with ECB decision 2013/10. As a rule, we will redeem a damaged note if you present more than half of it to us and we can verify it as genuine.
• We exchange damaged euro coins in accordance with EU Regulation (EU) No 1210/2010 of the European Parliament.
• Where your submitted damaged banknotes or coins are contaminated (e.g. blood, mould, sewage, drugs, and unknown substances) and may pose a risk to health and safety, we may consider these applications providing you have included a satisfactory health and safety assessment carried out by the relevant authorities¹.
• We do not offer a cash exchange facility for damaged genuine euro banknotes or coins, or Irish banknotes or Irish coins. Therefore, these criteria will only be applied for the processing of applications for reimbursement.

Refusal to Reimburse / Partial Reimbursement

Where the Central Bank knows, or has sufficient reason to believe, that:

• Genuine banknotes or coins have been intentionally damaged (banknotes which have annotations, numbers or brief sentences on them will, in principle, not be considered intentionally damaged/mutilated)
• A criminal offence has been committed
• The banknote is suspected of being counterfeited or altered

The Central Bank shall refuse to reimburse the banknote(s) and will withhold such banknotes, against acknowledgement of receipt, as evidence to be presented to the relevant authorities to initiate or to support an ongoing criminal investigation.

At the end of such an investigation, unless the relevant authorities decide otherwise, these banknotes shall qualify for reimbursement subject to the criteria mentioned in the above conditions for reimbursement.

We may decide to refuse reimbursement of euro coins unfit for circulation, which have been altered either deliberately or by a process that could be reasonably expected to have the effect of altering them.

Applicants will be informed by post if they are not reimbursed to the full value of their submitted claim. If the banknotes are required to be returned to the applicant, we will return them by registered post. We will not return notes that we find to be counterfeit.

¹ The Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB) is the sole body with responsibility for accreditation of laboratories.

When lodging large amounts of Irish and euro coins, please sort these per denomination in standardised bags or boxes comprising:

• 500 coins for each of the denominations of EUR 2 and EUR 1
• 1,000 coins for each of the denominations of EUR 0.50 and EUR 0.20
• 2,000 coins for each of the denominations of EUR 0.10, EUR 0.05, EUR 0.02 and EUR 0.01

For smaller quantities, please sort the lodged coins per denomination.

Each bag or box must contain a packaging list with an overview of the bags or boxes submitted, including:

• The contact details of the person submitting the coins
• The value and the denomination contained
• The weight
• The date of packaging, and the bag or box number.

Where the submitted damaged banknotes or coins are contaminated (e.g. blood, mould, sewage, drugs, and unknown substances) and may pose a risk to health and safety, we may consider these applications providing you include a satisfactory health and safety assessment carried out by the relevant authorities¹.

Where the total quantity of euro coins unfit for circulation is smaller than the requirements referred to above, you should sort those euro coins by denomination and submit them in non-standard packaging.

¹ The Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB) is the sole body with responsibility for accreditation of laboratories.

• A handling fee of five per cent of the value of the submitted euro coins, may be withheld from the reimbursement depending on the level of testing required to authenticate them.
• In the event that anomalies are present in a sample of coins taken from a box or bag as part of the verification process, it is necessary to check the entire bag or box [see Article 11(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1210/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council]. In this case we may supplement the handling fee with an additional 15 per cent fee of the nominal value of the submitted euro coins.
• Where a lodgement of euro coins includes coins treated with chemical or other hazardous substances to such a degree that they may be deemed by the Central Bank to present a health risk for handlers, the charges levied shall be supplemented by a further fee equivalent to 20% of the value of the euro coins submitted. The Central Bank may, at its sole discretion, refuse to give any value for such coins notwithstanding that it has withdrawn them from circulation.