If you have money that's been damaged in a fire,

如果你有錢在大火中被燒毀

in a flood, that's been eaten by insects or animals,

或在水中被浸濕，甚至是被昆蟲或動物啃食

we'll evaluate and determine how much is there

我們會幫你評估

and reimburse you for it.

你能夠拿回多少錢

(curious music)

(音樂)

My name is Eric Walsh, I'm the assistant manager

我的名字是 Eric Walsh

at the Mutilated Currency Division.

我是貨幣修復部門的協理

Every year, the Mutilated Currency Division

每年，貨幣修復部門

receives about 23,000 cases, people will send money

都會收到約兩萬三千多筆的案件

that's been somehow damaged,

人們會把被損壞的錢送過來

and we reimburse, annually, about 40 million dollars.

我們每年修復、歸還約四千萬美元

It's a free service the government provides

這是政府所免費提供的

that we pay dollar in dollar out.

等值換鈔服務

We require 51 percent of the note present to pay on it

我們規定至少要剩餘 51% 的紙鈔面積才能兌換

and that just protects us

這樣才能保護我們

from paying twice on the same note.

在相同的紙鈔重複付款

Once we determine the amount,

一旦我們決定金額

we will send a treasury check for what we discover.

我們會送出財政部所簽發的國庫支票來證明

We're pretty low-tech here,

我們這邊沒有什麼高科技的方法

so the tools of the trade are scissors, knives, scalpels,

所用的工具是剪刀、刀子、小刀

glue and tape, and maybe a pair of tweezers.

膠水和膠帶，還有鑷子

The most challenging cases are usually cases that

最有挑戰性的案件應該是

the money has gotten wet and sat for long periods of times,

泡了水又放了一段時間的鈔票

and it'll actually petrify and be solid as a brick.

這會使鈔票黏在一起，變得像一塊磚塊

A lot of it is "the dog ate my money."

還有很多像是「狗吃了我的錢」

We get hundreds of those cases a year.

這類的案件我們每天都有好幾百起

A lot of people

還有很多人

will hide their money in the oven and forget about it,

會忘記他們把錢藏在烤箱裡

or they'll get it wet and put it in the microwave

或是把濕掉的錢放到微波爐加熱

and that will ignite the currency.

這會使錢燒起來

Our most infamous case took place in the '80s,

我們有一起最誇張的案件是發生在 1980 年代

and what happened was a farmer lost his wallet in a field

有個農夫在山林裡掉了錢包

and discovered that his cow had eaten it,

然後發現錢包被牛吃掉了

and we always encourage the submitter

我們常會鼓勵當事人

to send in the package as it is;

將原物原封不動地送過來

and the farmer sent in the cow's stomach,

農夫送來的是牛的胃

which we were able to retrieve the wallet from

但我們也能夠將他的皮夾取出

and reimburse the farmer his currency.

還給農夫他的錢

Our office consists of just under 20 people,

我們的辦公室由不到 20 個人組成

and we have 12 people

我們有 12 個人

that examine and process the submissions,

來檢查及處理申請的案件

and they do roughly between

每年會有大約

1,000 and 2,000 claims each year.

一千至兩千起的賠償案件

We do get an increased amount of cases

我們的案件會增加

after a natural disaster.

尤其在天災之後

Over the past year between the hurricanes

去年加利福尼亞洲的颱風

and wildfires out in California,

和野火

we've reimbursed over two million dollars.

我們就處理補償了兩百萬美元

We're called upon when a lot of people hit their low point,

我們鼓勵了許多處於低潮的人

so any relief that you could provide someone

當你能夠提供任何的幫助給那些

after they lost all their money in a flood

在洪水里失去所有的錢

or after their house burned down is very rewarding.

或是家裡失火的人，是件非常有意義的事

Hopefully we're a service that you will never need to use,

這項服務當然希望你是永遠用不到

but in case something does happen, we're here for you.

不過，萬一你需要的話，我們會在這裡為您服務