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I happen to have a bunch of “old” $100 bills. They're labeled series 2006A, the last series of the previous model.

I am aware that they are fully accepted in the U.S., but also that many places outside in the rest of the world rejects them (apparently due to risk of counterfeit). And I personally experienced that rejection during my last travel.

I wish to replace these old bills for a newer serie (having the 3D security ribbon). But, living on western Europe, I don't know how I could do this.

Would, say, a local branch of an american bank accept such an exchange? Do exchange offices offer that service? With a fee? Obviously, I'd like to avoid putting fees in it, as this obsolescence is not my responsibility.

Edit: As requested, here are more specific information. I am located in Paris, and only have accounts in Euros. I do also have an account in a digital bank, which offer to open USD accounts for free. But, to my knowledge, mine don't handle paper money deposit/withdrawal.

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  • You don't want to simply deposit the bills but you want freshly printed $100 bills instead because you want to spend them in a way where a) you want to pay with $100 bill in cash and b) the seller is reluctant to accept old bills?
    – quarague
    Commented Apr 3 at 7:56
  • @quarague I don't mind deposing them. But I'll need to also be able to withdraw them easily. Being abroad, I don't expect to find a simple solution for that.
    – Albert Patton
    Commented Apr 3 at 21:34

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These bills are not obsolete and are perfectly valid:

It is U.S. government policy that all designs of Federal Reserve notes remain legal tender, or legally valid for payments, regardless of when they were issued. This policy includes all denominations of Federal Reserve notes, from 1914 to present as per 31 U.S.C. § 5103.

You can check with your local bank whether they're willing to provide this "service" to you, or with any local exchange service. Some might for free, some might for a fee, but no-one is obligated to exchange them (as opposed to old GBP bills, for example, which are in fact obsolete and there's a proper process to exchange them).

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    If the bank won't exchange them, why not just deposit them? (Assuming you aren't dealing with hyperinflation or black market or something of that sort.)
    – keshlam
    Commented Apr 2 at 0:03
  • @keshlam I imagine hefty fees for a USD account or unfavorable USD/EUR conversion.
    – littleadv
    Commented Apr 2 at 0:05
  • I see no other alternative. Why should anyone trust that someone trying to exchange old bills for new ones isn't pushing counterfeits? A bank can make the effort to check them, covered by the exchange fee, and with the provision that the money is not available to withdraw until that has been done. Or you can wait to spend the money in the US, where it is legal tender rather than foreign which can be refused. Or you can see if someone at the US consulate might have a better suggestion. But if local stores won't take it, they won't and don't have to.
    – keshlam
    Commented Apr 2 at 2:39
  • @keshlam I thought about a deposit-withdrawal, but then I would either need to open an account in USD or make a double conversion. I expect excessive fees either way.
    – Albert Patton
    Commented Apr 2 at 6:07
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    @jcaron no, I don't ignore it, it wouldn't be an issue within the US because people would just do what <at>keshlam suggests. But there's not much more to offer the OP, especially not knowing where they are and what's the banking situation there.
    – littleadv
    Commented Apr 2 at 16:58

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