Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank, has decided to align its policy with the rest of the Nordic region by introducing a strict expiry date of its old notes, which were replaced a decade ago.
In practice, this means that the window in which to redeem invalid banknotes will be capped at ten years, setting the final deadline as June 30th, 2027. Altogether, 3.9 billion kronor remains in circulation – and a portion of these funds may well be sitting forgotten in someone's wardrobe or chest of drawers.
"Our advice right now is to really search your stash and perhaps talk to elderly relatives. Looking at the cases we've received over the years, it's not at all unusual for people to have forgotten that they had cash saved somewhere," Christina Wejshammar, head of the Riksbank's payments department, told TT.
In practical terms, this applies to all Swedish banknotes that became invalid in 2017 or earlier. Among these are the old red 500-kronor note and the green-blue 100-kronor note featuring botanist Carl Linnaeus.
However, receiving a payout is by no means guaranteed. You have to be able to demonstrate through paperwork how you obtained the cash and why it wasn't spent earlier.
Those who send in their cash must also be prepared to pay a 300 kronor administrative fee to the Riksbank.