How to Cash In War Bonds: Value, Redemption, and Taxes

To cash in war bonds, take the paper bonds to a bank where you hold an account, or mail them with FS Form 1522 to Treasury Retail Securities Services. Every Series E bond ever issued (1941 through 1980) has now reached final maturity and stopped earning interest, so there is no financial reason to keep holding them.1TreasuryDirect. Timeline of U.S. Savings Bonds

Confirm the Bonds Have Stopped Earning Interest

The series is printed on the face of each bond. Original war bonds are Series E. Series E bonds issued before December 1965 earned interest for 40 years from their issue date; those issued after November 1965 earned interest for 30 years. Either way, every Series E bond has passed final maturity and is worth exactly what it is worth today, with no further growth.1TreasuryDirect. Timeline of U.S. Savings Bonds

If the box also contains Series H or HH bonds, those have matured as well. Series HH stopped earning after 20 years, and none remain within their interest-paying period.2eCFR. 31 CFR Part 352 – Offering of United States Savings Bonds, Series HH

Every month a matured bond sits in a drawer is a month that money could be earning a return elsewhere. The early-redemption penalty that applies to newer Series EE and I bonds (a three-month interest forfeit in the first five years) does not apply here. Series E bonds are decades past that window.

Look Up What the Bond Is Worth

Before going to the bank, check each bond’s current value using the Treasury’s free Savings Bond Calculator at TreasuryDirect.gov. Enter the series, the denomination printed on the face, and the issue month and year. A serial number is not required.3TreasuryDirect. Calculate the Value of Your Paper Savings Bonds

The calculator returns the current redemption value alongside the original purchase price. The difference between the two is the accumulated interest, which is the figure that will be taxed when you cash the bond.

Cashing War Bonds at a Bank

The fastest route is a bank where you already have an account. Not every bank redeems savings bonds, and many that do set a dollar limit per visit.4TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds Call first and ask three things: whether they cash paper savings bonds at all, what their per-visit limit is, and what identification they require.

Bring the bonds themselves, a valid government-issued photo ID (driver’s license, passport, or state ID), and your Social Security number.5TreasuryDirect. FS Form 1522 – Special Form of Request for Payment of United States Savings and Retirement Securities The teller will watch you sign each bond on the back. Funds go straight into your account at that bank.

If the pile is larger than the bank’s limit, you can spread the redemptions over multiple visits or send the rest to the Treasury by mail.

Mailing War Bonds to the Treasury

When no bank will cash your bonds, or you have more than a local bank will handle in one sitting, mail them to the Treasury with FS Form 1522, which is available at TreasuryDirect.gov.

The signature rule on FS Form 1522 depends on how much you are redeeming:

Send the completed form and the bonds to Treasury Retail Securities Services, P.O. Box 9150, Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150.6TreasuryDirect. Contact Us The Treasury warns that mail-in redemptions take at least six weeks because of volume, and any transaction where you are not the person named on the bond can take two months or longer.7TreasuryDirect. TreasuryDirect Home

When the Name on the Bond Doesn’t Match Yours

Old war bonds often carry a maiden name, a former married name, or a slight misspelling. For ordinary name changes tied to marriage or divorce, the fix is simple. At the bank, sign both the name printed on the bond and your current legal name, and add a short explanation: for example, “Mary Smith, now Mary Jones (name changed due to marriage).”8TreasuryDirect. Changing Information About EE or I Savings Bonds (Reissuing) No marriage certificate or court order is required.

A completely wrong first or last name is a different problem. In that case, the bond must be formally reissued before it can be cashed, which requires FS Form 4000 mailed to the Treasury with the bond.

Cashing War Bonds After the Owner Has Died

Many war bonds sit in estates because the original owner is long gone. The right path depends on how the bond is registered.

If the bond names a surviving co-owner, that person is treated as the sole owner and can cash the bond by providing proof of the other owner’s death. If the bond names a beneficiary and the original owner has died, the beneficiary becomes the full owner once they provide a certified death certificate.9eCFR. 31 CFR Part 315 Subpart L – Deceased Owner, Coowner or Beneficiary

A bond in the deceased person’s name alone belongs to the estate. If the estate is being administered through a court, the executor or administrator requests payment using their letters of appointment (Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration), and those letters must be dated within one year of the redemption request.9eCFR. 31 CFR Part 315 Subpart L – Deceased Owner, Coowner or Beneficiary

If there is no court administration and the total value of the decedent’s Treasury securities is $100,000 or less, a close family member (blood relative, legally adopted child, or surviving spouse) can act as a voluntary representative using FS Form 5336. The form both establishes your authority for the estate and directs disposition of the bonds, and it must be signed in front of a certifying official.10TreasuryDirect. FS Form 5336 – Disposition of Treasury Securities Belonging to a Decedent’s Estate Being Settled Without Administration Estates with more than $100,000 in Treasury securities, or claims by someone outside the immediate family, require formal court administration.

If the Bonds Are Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed

Missing bonds do not mean lost money. The Treasury keeps records and will replace lost, stolen, or destroyed bonds, though the replacement comes as an electronic bond in a TreasuryDirect account rather than a new paper certificate.

File FS Form 1048. If you know the serial number, use the standard version of the form. If you do not have the serial number and the bond was issued before 1974, there is a separate version of FS Form 1048 for that situation. Sign it in front of a notary and mail it in.11TreasuryDirect. Get Help for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed EE or I Savings Bond

The Treasury Hunt search tool, which used to help locate bonds issued in 1974 or later when the serial number was unknown, was discontinued in September 2025 under the SECURE Act 2.0.12TreasuryDirect. Treasury Hunt For post-1974 bonds without serial numbers, contact the Treasury directly for current claim procedures.

Expect a long wait. The Treasury warns that missing-bond searches take at least seven months.7TreasuryDirect. TreasuryDirect Home If you find the original after a replacement issues, return it to Treasury Retail Securities Services.

Federal Tax on the Interest

When you cash a war bond, the interest earned over its lifetime is taxable as ordinary income on your federal return. The original purchase price is not taxed; only the growth is.13Internal Revenue Service. Savings Bonds 1 A bond bought for $25 that is now worth $85 produces $60 of taxable interest.

Cashing a stack of war bonds in a single year can produce a large tax hit, because decades of deferred interest all land on one return. If the total interest across bonds you redeem in a year exceeds $1,500, complete Schedule B and attach it to Form 1040.

Your 1099-INT comes from whoever processes the redemption. A bank issues it either at the time of the transaction or by January 31 of the following year.14TreasuryDirect. 1099 Tax Statements for Paper Savings Bonds and TreasuryDirect

One thing to remember at state tax time: savings bond interest is exempt from state and local income tax.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 3124 – Exemption From Taxation If your state taxes income, subtract the bond interest when figuring state taxable income. It is easy to miss, and missing it means paying tax you do not owe.

Tax When the Original Owner Has Died

When the bond changes hands because the owner died, the tax splits. Interest earned up to the date the bond is reissued or transferred belongs on the deceased owner’s final return. Interest earned after that belongs to the new owner (beneficiary, co-owner, or heir).16TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds

For paper bonds, that split can be awkward. When the new owner finally cashes the bond, the 1099-INT will list the full lifetime of interest under the new owner’s name and Social Security number. If part of that interest was already reported on the deceased owner’s final return, the new owner will need to show that to the IRS to avoid paying tax twice. Keep the decedent’s final return and any 1099s that were filed with it.