Exchanging damaged foreign bills
 

I recently returned home from a trip that included Bangladesh. I completely forgot to change my Bangladeshi cash in the airport there, and left the country with about $75 USD in taka. I thought I could just change this at a regular bank or currency counter, but I had some difficulty finding a place that would take Taka. When I did find one, I discovered that they wouldn't take my Taka! There is a small hole located in the center right portion of each bill -- the clerk told me that this is from a machine that is sometimes used to hold/count the bills.

Because my bills were "mutilated" (her description not mine), she said no bank would be able to exchange the money. Does anyone have any experience with this at all? Does anyone know if there is any way to get it exchanged? It's not a huge sum of money, so I'm ok with eating it just as a vacation expense, and I have no plans to return to Bangladesh.

If you are planning to travel in the near future to any airport that has flights to Bangladesh (many major east Asian airports, Dubai, London, etc.) then their exchange counter should have no problem converting them for you. Sometimes they use the holes as an excuse to pay a lower rate.

Not sure how big the holes are, but in India, they often use straight pins to hold bundles of bills together. Small holes in Indian bills are the norm, not the exception.

They are small holes - and I imagine it is similar in India as well. I got these bills out of an ATM, and they are in each one.

You just need to keep trying, eventually you will find somebody who will take them.