# At what moment do ATM machines stop delivering money? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 31, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-moment-do-atm-machines-stop-delivering-money/583854 "2011-05-31T14:50:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-moment-do-atm-machines-stop-delivering-money/583854/61 "2015-10-30T23:10:57Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > ATMs in the UK usually dispense both £10 and £20 notes. It’s quite common for the £10 notes to run out, in which case you get a message telling you that you can only request an amount in multiples of £20. Odd. When I used to service the machines in the US that were inside of banks, they’d have literally $2,000 in USD10 in them and $60,000 in USD20 in them… and NEVER run out of USD10. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-moment-do-atm-machines-stop-delivering-money/583854/62 "2015-10-30T23:26:53Z")
> [@SpyOne](#): > > “That’s a $20. That’s a $20. That’s a $20. Don’t know what that is. That’s a $20. That’s a $20. That’s a $20. Don’t know what that is. That’s a $20. That’s a $20. That’s a $20. Don’t know what that is. . Oops, I don’t have enough.” On mine it would be: “Guy wants $80, cool. That’s a $20. Cool, let me grab another. That’s a $20. Let me grab another. Okay, I just got something… I think it’s a $20, but it could be $40, or a weirdly folded $20, or a $20 that got ripped. And now I got maybe $40 and a ripped $20, or maybe I got $80 or maybe even a lot more. If I give this guy too little he’s going to be mad, if I give him too much then the bank is going to be mad. Lemme open this gate into the ‘island of misfit currency’ and push the money stacked up in my money stacker into it… there we go. Do I still have money? Lemme try this again.” Normally my machines will have 1 bill that fails detection per 2000 bills… that is $40,000. The only times that the rate of number is higher are when: - The bankers decide that they’re putting excessively old and worn money in, or - they don’t put the money in properly, and bills are sticking up sideways or - the machine is not under contract for preventative maintenance and the belts/wheels/springs/filters wear out or go out of calibration [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-moment-do-atm-machines-stop-delivering-money/583854.md?page=3)