Fellow Travellers
Exchange shops or Kurse in Bishkek take a MARKED dollar note at a lower rate .
If there's a slight mark or stain on the $ note , t then he exchange rate is reduced by at least 2% .
For example , a stained or marked $100 bill is worth $98 .
This is practiced by all exchange shops in Bishkek ! Not the case in Alamty .
Happy Travelling - tony76
The bill would have to be pretty bad. I lived in Bishkek for some time. I was paid in dollars and never had a problem changing any of them. Even if they were smushed up in my pocket.
In Aug 2009 I had a similar experience to the OP. I had obtained my USD in Pakistan, where US notes usually have ink stamps, pencil marks and sometimes messages written on them. The money changers in Bishkek offered inferior rates for these or refused to take them. When I bought an airline ticket at Kygyz Concept, the cashier charged me an extra $5 which she said was the charge imposed on them by the bank to accept dirty currency.