Exchange Old or Damaged Money
Notice I Exchange via our ‘walk-in’ public office is currently suspended
Due to COVID-19 and in keeping with public health guidelines, visitor access to our public office has been restricted. As a result, the Central Bank has suspended the exchange of banknotes and coins through our public office until further notice.
You can apply to the Central Bank of Ireland to exchange old or damaged money. Through this service, you can exchange:
- IR£ pounds: Old or damaged Irish banknotes and coins
- € euro: Damaged euro banknotes and coins
You cannot exchange:
If your application is successful, we will reimburse you by transferring funds into a bank account of your choice. We cannot reimburse you in cash.
How to apply
Follow the steps below to prepare your application..
Step 1. Prepare your notes and coins
IR£ pounds: Old or damaged banknotes and coins
You can exchange old IR£ pound banknotes and coins into euro.
The exchange rate is IR£1 = €1.269738.
You can also exchange damaged old Irish IR£ pounds. Examples of damaged banknotes include those that are partially burnt, cut or decomposed.
Read how to prepare and package your money below, including some special conditions.
€ euro: Damaged banknotes and coins
You can make an application for damaged euro banknotes and coins to be replaced. The Central Bank will consider your application under its procedures which are governed by the Decision of the European Central Bank of 19 April 2013 on the denominations, specifications, reproduction, exchange and withdrawal of euro banknotes (ECB/2013/10).
Read how to prepare and package your money below, including some special conditions.
Step 2. Download and complete the application form(s)
There are separate forms for € euro and IR£ pound banknotes and coins.
€ euro
Exchange damaged € euro banknotes | pdf 815 KB
Exchange damaged € euro coins | pdf 890 KB
IR£ pounds
Exchange old or damaged IR£ banknotes | pdf 831 KB
Exchange old or damaged IR£ coins | pdf 897 KB
Step 3. Prepare supporting documents
For a personal application worth over €200
If the value of exchange is worth over €200, you must include a high-quality photocopy of an official identity document which reflects the name on the bank account details you provide with your application form. This may include your:
- Passport
- Driver’s licence
The photocopy must clearly show your full name and photograph. You are also required to provide proof of address and proof of ownership of the bank account into which the funds will be exchanged (e.g. a redacted bank statement).
In the event you are submitting in excess of €1,000, you must also provide reliable and independent data, documents and/or information to evidence the source of funds and/or proof of your ownership of the banknotes. This may include:
- documents evidencing payments made to you
- bank account statements/bank withdrawal receipts
- receipts of sale
- legal documents, etc.).
For a business application worth over €200
Include the following information with your application:
- CRO (Companies Registration Office) number
- High-quality photocopy of a redacted bank statement for the company bank account included on your application form
Step 4. Check other application conditions
You may also have to meet other conditions to apply for an exchange. This includes circumstances where your notes or coins:
- Are contaminated, e.g. with blood or chemicals
- Need extra testing
- Need special handling due to the nature of the damage or contamination
- Weigh over 10KG (a maximum limit of 10KG applies to coin lodgements).
Read the full application conditions below.
Step 5. Submit your application
There are three options when submitting your application to the Central Bank:
Option 1: Via a Retail Bank Branch
In some cases, you may be able to apply to exchange old or damaged money via your bank branch. You must complete the appropriate Central Bank exchange form at a retail bank branch, and they may submit the application directly to the Central Bank on your behalf. Contact your bank directly to ask about this option.
Option 2: Registered Post
Applicants within Ireland may complete the appropriate form and send it by Registered Post directly to the Central Bank address listed on the form.
Please see the An Post website for further information on sending restricted items by post. Applications submitted to the Central Bank by post are at the sender’s risk.
Option 3: At the Central Bank's Public Office [Currently Suspended]
Due to COVID-19 and in keeping with public health guidelines, visitor access to our public office is currently restricted. As a result, the Central Bank has suspended the exchange of banknotes and coins through our public office until further notice. Please consider options 1 and 2, above.
Step 6. After you apply
When we receive your application, we will check that you have included the:
- Completed application form(s)
- Money to be exchanged, i.e. notes and/or coins
- Supporting documents (if required)
We will also check other conditions where relevant, e.g. weight, contamination, etc.
We will then process your application. This may involve sending the notes or coins for testing and engaging with the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, An Garda Siochana and other competent authorities.
Full exchange
Applications will be considered and determined in accordance with the Central Bank’s procedures which are governed by the Decision of the European Central Bank of 19 April 2013 on the denominations, specifications, reproduction, exchange and withdrawal of euro banknotes (ECB/2013/10). The Central Bank will endeavour to determine applications within a reasonable period. Higher value submissions will be subject to additional scrutiny and where engagement with the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, An Garda Síochána and/or other competent authorities is considered to be necessary, the timeframe within which a decision is made will be longer.
If your application is refused
If your application does not meet all the application conditions and has been refused, we will send you a letter to inform you of our decision and explain the reasons why. For example, this may happen if you submit less than half of a euro banknote for exchange and do not provide evidence that the missing parts have been destroyed.
In the event you are not satisfied with the outcome of your application, or the manner in which the organisation has dealt with you, you may wish to lodge a complaint with us.
Read the conditions for refusal below.
Regulations and Conditions
€ Euro and IR£ Pound
Make sure to present your banknotes and coins in such a way that we can identify and verify them.
Your application may fail or be delayed if we have difficulty identifying or verifying your notes.
For example, reconstruct any damaged banknotes as best you can before you submit them.
If your banknotes or coins are contaminated or could pose a risk to health and safety, you must include a health and safety assessment carried out by an authority accredited by Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB).
This may include:
- Blood
- Mould
- Sewage
- Drugs
- Unknown substances
We will refuse to reimburse your application if we know, or have sufficient reason to believe, that:
- Genuine banknotes or coins have been intentionally damaged (Note: banknotes that have brief written sentences, numbers or notes on them will be accepted for exchange)
- A criminal offence has been committed
- The banknote is suspected of being counterfeited or altered
We will withhold banknotes as described above (against acknowledgement of a receipt) as evidence to initiate or support a criminal investigation by relevant authorities.
At the end of such an investigation, unless the relevant authorities decide otherwise, these banknotes will qualify for reimbursement as normal.
We may refuse to reimburse euro coins that have been altered either deliberately or by a process that could be reasonably expected to have the effect of altering them.
You will be informed by post if you are not reimbursed to the full value of your application. We will then send any banknotes that are eligible for return to you by registered post. We will not return notes that we find to be counterfeit.
You cannot exchange notes or coins that weigh over 10KG in total at our public office. To exchange notes or coins over 10KG, submit your application via a cash-in-transit company approved by the Private Security Authority.
Call 01 224 5969 for more information.
€ Euro Only
A handling fee of 5% 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.
Your must sort large amounts of Irish and euro coins in standardised bags or boxes comprising:
- 500 coins for each denomination of 2 Euro and 1 Euro
- 1,000 coins for each denomination of 50 cent and 20 cent
- 2,000 coins for each denomination of 10 cent, 5 cent, 2 cent and 1 cent.
For smaller quantities, please sort the coins into separate packages based on the face value.
Each bag or box must contain a packaging list that describes the contents, including:
- Values and the denominations contained
- Contact details of the person submitting the coins
- Weight
- Date of packaging, and the bag or box number
How we use your information
We use this information to confirm you are who you say you are, you have a right to request this exchange and to facilitate assessments to comply with Exchange of Banknotes obligations as a Central Bank. Your personal data is processed in accordance with the requirements of data protection legislation and specifically for the purposes of facilitating reimbursement. On occasion and in accordance with our obligations, we may share information with relevant authorities such as An Garda Siochána and the Office of the Revenue Commissioners. Matters that will be considered include money laundering and terrorist financing, revenue and criminality. Submissions above a certain threshold set by the Central Bank of Ireland from time to time may also be referred by the Central Bank of Ireland to relevant competent authorities. Your data will be stored for a period that the Bank considers appropriate to support the prevention of crime and to enable its compliance with relevant laws.
Your rights
You have a number of rights under data protection laws. Personal data will be processed in accordance with data protection legislation. Any queries concerning the processing of personal data by the Central Bank of Ireland may be directed to dataprotection@centralbank.ie. You can find out more about how the Central Bank of Ireland deals with your personal data on our privacy page.
Contact and help
If you have any queries about this service, please contact us.