How do I know if I have uncashed bonds?
With your Social Security Number (or Taxpayer Identification Number) or name and state, you can use our Treasury Hunt search to see if you have any
Search for matured savings bonds and missing interest using Treasury Hunt, an online tool from TreasuryDirect.
You can call the Savings Bond Processing Site at (800) 553-2663 to check on the status of a savings bond.
Use the Treasury Hunt® tool to discover if you own savings bonds.
You can find your holder's number by logging in to our online service and checking your Premium Bonds account page. Or you can call us for a replacement Bond record and we'll send it to you. If you aren't registered for our online and phone service, you can write to us and ask for a replacement Bond record too.
For those fully matured bonds remaining unredeemed, there is no active program by the Bureau to locate the bondholders and pay them the proceeds to which they are entitled. Traditionally, it has been up to the registered owner to remember to redeem the matured bond decades after the initial purchase.
To file a claim for a savings bond that is lost, stolen, or destroyed, complete a Claim for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds (FS Form 1048). Please sign the form in the presence of an authorized certifying officer (available at a bank, trust company, or credit union).
Face Value | Purchase Amount | 20-Year Value (Purchased May 2000) |
---|---|---|
$50 Bond | $100 | $109.52 |
$100 Bond | $200 | $219.04 |
$500 Bond | $400 | $547.60 |
$1,000 Bond | $800 | $1,095.20 |
Do the address and Social Security Number on the bonds have to match the customer's address and Social Security Number? Not necessarily. The customer may have moved or the bonds may have been a gift and contain the purchaser's information.
Because bond funds do not have a defined maturity date, and the investor chooses when to purchase and when to sell, as prices fluctuate due to interest rate changes and other factors, it is possible that an investor may receive less principal back than initially invested.
How do I find bond information?
In most cases, if you have a brokerage account, you will have access to that firm's research tools, which may include bond quotes and other information. This is the first place that you should look when seeking bond information.
If the original owner of a bond has died, but someone else has been named as a beneficiary on the bond, the beneficiary can redeem the bond. Finally, in some cases a person with the legal authority to conduct business on the bond bearer's behalf can redeem the bond.
If only one person is named on the bond and that person has died, the bond belongs to that person's estate. If two people are named on the bond and both have died, the bond belongs to the estate of the one who died last.
You can redeem a savings bond online at the Treasury Department's TreasuryDirect website, by mail or at your local bank or credit union, if they offer the service. Your savings bond must be at least a year old, and you'll need government-issued identification to prove that the bond is yours.
Just log in to view your prize history, or use our prize checker to see if you have any prizes you don't know about yet. Or you can write to us asking for your prize history. Remember to include your name, address and NS&I number (or Premium Bonds holder's number). We'll send you a list of any prizes you've won.
If you can't find your holder's number or account number, you can phone NS&I on 08085 007 007 or write and ask for a replacement bond record to be sent to you. Give as much detail as you can about your past addresses, where and when you bought the Premium Bonds and how much they might be worth.
Only about one percent of all matured savings bonds have not been redeemed, but that still amounts to a substantial sum of money owed to our citizens. The bonds were issued on paper until 2002 when the government launched electronic versions that redeem automatically at maturity.
Most bonds can be cashed in after one year, but you will lose three months' worth of interest if you cash them in before five years.
EE bonds earn interest until the first of these events: You cash in the bond or it reaches 30 years old. Therefore, many of these bonds have stopped earning interest. If you moved your EE bond into a TreasuryDirect account, we pay you for the bond as soon as it reaches 30 years and stops earning interest.
After a Bond Serial Number is entered correctly the tool will display the validity of the bond and the current redemption value to be paid to the customer. If the bond is valid and redeemable at your financial institution, a green check mark with the text Valid will be displayed.
How do you cash in a savings bond for someone who has died?
If the bonds cannot be cashed at a local bank, the legal representative of the estate must complete a Special Form of Request for Payment of United States Savings and Retirement Securities Where Use of a Detached Request Is Authorized (FS Form 1522).
Banks and credit unions can redeem savings bonds over the counter.
Series EE savings bonds are a low-risk way to save money. They earn interest regularly for 30 years (or until you cash them if you do that before 30 years). For EE bonds you buy now, we guarantee that the bond will double in value in 20 years, even if we have to add money at 20 years to make that happen.
Total Price | Total Value | Total Interest |
---|---|---|
$50.00 | $69.94 | $19.94 |
Total Price | Total Value | YTD Interest |
---|---|---|
$1,000.00 | $2,094.00 | $89.60 |
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