Chinese Bank Reconstructs Shredded Savings Over 20 Days
An 80-year-old Chinese man accidentally shredded his pension savings, prompting bank staff from multiple branches to spend over 20 days painstakingly reconstructing more than 10,000 banknote fragments totaling 266,000 yuan.
An 80-year-old Chinese man with cognitive impairment accidentally shredded his pension savings, prompting his family to seek help from the bank. His grandson, Mr. Sui, discovered numerous banknote fragments filling containers while organizing household items and rushed them to the bank for assistance.
Given the massive volume of shredded currency, the bank assembled staff from multiple nearby branches to help. The branch manager revealed that the damaged banknotes totaled over 200,000 yuan, torn into more than 10,000 pieces, with some notes divided into 5-6 fragments each, making reconstruction extremely difficult.
The greatest challenge was sorting through over 10,000 fragments to identify matching pieces from individual banknotes and reassemble them—like finding a needle in an ocean. Initially, staff could reconstruct only about 9 notes per day, but as they developed patterns, productivity gradually increased. After more than 20 days of work, they successfully reconstructed and exchanged the notes, totaling 266,000 yuan, or approximately 1.3 million baht.
Following the story's release, some online users suggested using weighing scales or AI to sort damaged banknotes in future cases. However, the bank clarified that damaged note exchanges follow strict regulations requiring verification of both authenticity and completeness before processing. Weighing alone cannot confirm whether notes are genuine or their exchange value, and this approach would violate legal requirements. The bank emphasized that despite the time, patience, and labor involved in currency recovery, every step must follow proper procedure and law to fully protect the rights of money owners.
