The Money That Could Literally Burn a Hole in Your Pocket

Germany investigates mystery of disintegrating acid-laced banknotes

The Associated Press
Published: November 2, 2006

German officials are trying to figure out how some 1,500 euro banknotes were contaminated with acid, sometimes causing the brittle bills to disintegrate.

The notes, most of them in denominations of less than €100 (US$128), started surfacing in June, according to Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank. So far, the disappearing cash has been found in 17 cities.

The bills "apparently were contaminated with an acid and may disintegrate," Interior Ministry spokesman Stefan Kaller told reporters on Thursday.

"These are genuine notes, and not fake money," Kaller said. He added that there were "many theories," but "there is no clear information yet as to how this acid got onto these notes."

However, he said, "there is a suspicion that it has do with bank machines that distribute the bills, and they will be examined and changed," Kaller said. Particular machines appeared to be the source of many of the notes, he said.

The Bundesbank said errors in the production process had been ruled out.

Bundesbank spokeswoman Elke Martens said the bills "became crumbly after they were withdrawn from cash machines." She added that it was the first time such damage had been seen.

Berlin police spokesman Benedikt Scherlebeck said investigators had found an acid on the notes, but did not elaborate.

Germany's mass-circulation Bild daily, which gave the story front-page coverage under the headline "Acid Attack on Our Money," identified the substance as sulfuric acid and speculated that the motive might be attempted blackmail.

Scherlebeck said it was unclear whether any crime had been committed and raised the possibility that the damage may have been done as the notes were transported.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet pointed to another possibility.

"It is not excluded, and I say that with great, great caution, that these notes had been stolen, and were impregnated with a certain liquid and then have been impregnated with different chemical products" to mask the fact they had been stolen, Trichet said.

The acid-laced cash appears to be unique to Germany.

"We have no other information coming from other members of the euro area," Trichet said at a news conference in Frankfurt after the ECB met to set interest rates. Twelve countries in Europe, including France, Italy and Spain, use the euro.

Germany has Europe's largest economy and accounts for 5 billion of the 10.5 billion euro notes in circulation. Germans tend to favor using cash, even for major purchases.

A statement from the Bundesbank said investigators had concluded that the bills were "unlikely" to pose a health risk.

It added that European rules provide for central banks to exchange damaged bills when more than 50 percent of a note is handed in; if less than half the note remains, it is up to the applicant to prove that the remainder was destroyed.