The Swedish Central Bank (Sweden’s central bank) has now decided to do as the other Nordic countries have and introduce a time limit. In practical terms, this means that people will have ten years to redeem invalid banknotes. The deadline will therefore be 30 June 2027.
In total, 3.9 billion kronor (about $371 million) is in circulation, and some of that money may be in someone’s drawer or closet at home.
The advice now is to go through your stash carefully and perhaps even talk to older relatives. Looking at the cases we have received over the years, it’s not uncommon for people to forget that they have banknotes saved somewhere, says Christina Wejshammar, head of the Swedish Central Bank’s payments department.
Not obvious
This concerns all banknotes that became invalid in 2017 or earlier. These include the red 500-krona note and the green-blue 100-krona note featuring botanist Carl von Linné.
Anyone who finds such banknotes is encouraged to submit them to the Swedish Central Bank for assessment. However, compensation is not guaranteed.
After ten years, it is much more difficult to obtain the documentation we need. You have to be able to show, with documentation, how you got the banknotes and why they were not used. After ten years, the banks cannot help with account statements, and those are important documents that we need, explains Christina Wejshammar.
Increased fee
Anyone who chooses to send in their money must be prepared for the Swedish Central Bank to charge a fee of 300 kronor (about $29), up from 200 kronor (about $19). It is of course impossible to say how much of the 3.9 billion the Swedish Central Bank will receive. Christina Wejshammar points out that old banknotes may have value beyond their monetary worth:
There may also be people who think it’s nice to save old banknotes because it’s a bit nostalgic, she says.
Corrected version: Clarifies in the preamble that these are invalid old banknotes.
What do you think?