The official site of Italy's central bank

Damaged euro notes

Worn, damaged or mutilated banknotes

Euro banknotes, which are made of pure cotton paper, inevitably deteriorate with use.
In order to ensure that the banknotes in circulation retain a high level of quality, the Bank of Italy regularly withdraws worn banknotes, replacing them with new ones.
Besides the normal process of deterioration with use, banknotes can be damaged or mutilated for various reasons (e.g. flood/fire damage, chemical contamination, torn notes, accidental washing, etc.).
A banknote is said to be damaged when it is dirty, stained or discoloured as a result of accidental events.

A banknote is said to be mutilated when part of it is missing. As a general rule, a mutilated banknote can be exchanged if the part presented for replacement is more than 50 per cent of the original note or, otherwise, if it can be proved that the missing part was destroyed accidentally.
Mutilated banknotes should be placed between transparent or plasticized sheets, preserving even the smallest fragments so as to avoid any further damage. Sticking tape and/or glue should not be used.

What to do if you have damaged or mutilated notes

Persons who have damaged or mutilated notes can ask to have them exchanged by new notes at any branch of the Bank of Italy. The notes will be examined and, if they meet the exchange requirements, exchanged immediately for new ones.

Damaged and mutilated notes that cannot be exchanged immediately at a branch, because there are doubts about their being exchangeable, are sent to the Bank's Head Office, where they are examined by a special committee that decides whether they are exchangeable.

Notes that the committee judges to be exchangeable are kept at the Bank's Head Office for destruction and the persons who submitted them reimbursed their value at the branch that sent them for examination.

Notes that the committee judges not to be exchangeable are returned to the persons who submitted them, in the case of mutilated notes to allow them to make a new request for exchange if the missing parts are found.

If the state the notes are in or the place they come from suggest they could be infectious, the person submitting them may be asked to produce a certificate indicating that they have been sterilized or disinfected.

Reimbursement of damaged or mutilated notes

Generally, notes are reimbursed free of charge.
A fee is charged only if the applicants have requested the exchange of euro banknotes accidentally damaged by anti-theft devices.

Banknotes that have been damaged or mutilated intentionally

Generally, intentionally damaged or mutilated banknotes are not replaced but withheld with no reimbursement.
However, those banknotes are replaced if the applicant is in good faith and/or if there is only a modest degree of damage (small phrases, numbers or annotations written on the banknote).

Banknotes that have been damaged as a result of a criminal act

Banknotes damaged or mutilated following a criminal act are sent to the Provincial Headquarters of the Guardia di Finanza.
If the competent authority returns the banknotes because there is no criminal element to the damage, the banknotes are treated as ordinarily damaged or mutilated banknotes (and therefore reimbursed or returned to the applicant following the procedure described above.)