She hides $92,000 in what she thought was a safe place and everything ends up turned to ashes

Sometimes, old habits are anything but justified. In much of rural Lithuania, it’s common to stash money metaphorically “under the mattress” — but in a different part of the house: the oven. Or the fireplace. Or the stove. According to local media reports, a woman accidentally burned nearly 80,000 euros in cash after hiding it inside an old cast-iron stove. Yet the most surprising part wasn’t the incident itself, but that the woman believed she had only between 50,000 and 60,000 euros hidden there.

The story was shared by Ramunė Juzėnienė, director of the Forensics and Technology Department at the Bank of Lithuania, during an interview with LRT radio. According to Juzėnienė, hiding money in stoves is a common tradition in many Baltic villages, especially among older generations who see these places as safe hiding spots.

“We’re used to people bringing us burnt money from stoves. I don’t understand why the elderly think it’s safe to hide it there,” Juzėnienė explained. Despite the damage, specialists at the Central Bank managed to recover most of the money thanks to their technical expertise.

In light of such incidents, the banking expert offers blunt advice: “If a disaster like this occurs and the money is inside a container, don’t open it. Especially if it’s glass—when oxygen enters, the fire can intensify and cause further damage to the bills,” she warned.

But how exactly is damaged money recovered?

Central banks worldwide, including Lithuania’s, follow strict technical protocols to assess damaged banknotes. Generally, to restore and return the money, at least 50% of the banknote must be present, or the owner must prove that the rest was accidentally destroyed.

Countries like Germany, Finland, and Japan have clearly defined rules. For example, the German Bundesbank accepts banknotes if more than half remains intact or if there is sufficient evidence of their destruction. The Bank of Japan returns full value if a note is more than two-thirds intact; if between two-fifths and two-thirds remain, they refund 50%.

Still, everyone agrees with Juzėnienė: damaged metal objects containing money should never be handled, especially if inside glass or metal containers. At the Bank of Lithuania, experts examine ink, serial numbers, paper texture, and other security features to authenticate each fragment.

Manual restoration remains the norm, but some countries and research projects are beginning to use artificial intelligence tools that reconstruct banknotes from fragments like digital puzzles. One example is the European project “SAFE,” currently experimental, which uses conventional neural networks (CNNs) to recognize and interpret damaged banknote fragments.

However, pending further technological advances, the best recommendation—beyond those already mentioned—is to keep money in safe places. Everyone has their own ideas of what’s secure, but clearly, an oven or fireplace isn’t one of them.

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