Request to exchange damaged or defective coins

Metallic coins are resistant due to the material used to manufacture them. However, their prolonged use or other circumstances can damage them by altering their characteristics and making them difficult to identify, resulting in a damaged coin.

Exceptionally, metallic coins may also have a manufacturing defect. In these cases, defective coins are considered legitimate but unfit for circulation.

You can submit up to 2,000 damaged coins at most per person per day, sorted by denomination, at the Banco de España headquarters and branch offices.

When the volume of coins of a single denomination is equal to or greater than the amount indicated below, they must be submitted in sealed transparent bags:

• €2 or €1 (bimetallic): 500 coins per bag
• €0.50, €0.20 and €0.10 (gold-colored): 1,000 coins per bag
• €0.05, €0.02 and €0.01€ (copper): 2,000 coins per bag

Each bag must contain information on:

1. the identity of the person making the delivery
2. the value and denomination of the contents
3. when the coins have been subjected to chemicals or other hazardous substances, a statement identifying the substances.

Coins that are severely damaged (bent, holed, stained with grease or liquids, or with any other clearly visible damage that prevents machine processing) must be submitted separately from the other coins.

When coins are not submitted as described or where their receipt may pose a health risk to the employees responsible for processing them, they will not be accepted.

If defective coins are submitted, the above-mentioned limits on volumes and packaging and submission requirements will not apply.

As a general rule, the Banco de España will refuse to reimburse coins that have been altered deliberately or by using a process that would be reasonably expected to alter them. For example, coins processed at waste incineration plants or subjected to precious metal recycling, coins damaged intentionally by mechanical stress or altered for decorative, artistic and advertising purposes and €1 or €2 coins whose outer ring has been separated from the inner part or appear to have been reassembled, will not be reimbursed.