There are roughly $30 billion in matured U.S. savings bonds sitting at the Treasury, no longer earning interest, waiting for someone to redeem them. Most are EE bonds bought as gifts in the 1980s and 90s — birthday presents from grandparents, graduation gifts, savings programs from old employers. They were tucked into a drawer, the original owner moved or died, and the bonds quietly stopped earning. The Treasury's Hunt tool helps; for older bonds you'll need a different form.
Start with Treasury Hunt — but understand its coverage
The Treasury Hunt tool at treasuryhunt.gov is the official Treasury Department search for matured, unredeemed savings bonds. Search by Social Security number. If a bond issued in your name (or a deceased relative's name) is in the Treasury's database, the tool returns it.
The limitation: Treasury Hunt indexes a defined set of series and date ranges, and not every old bond's record was digitized cleanly during the records transitions of the 2010s. Bonds purchased before the mid-1970s, or bonds where the original purchase records were incomplete, may not appear even if they exist. A 'no match' result on Treasury Hunt isn't a definitive 'no.'
If Treasury Hunt finds nothing, try Form 1048
If you believe a bond exists but Treasury Hunt doesn't surface it, file Form 1048 (Claim for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds) with TreasuryDirect. The form requires:
- Your name and SSN
- The bondholder's name and SSN if different (e.g., a deceased relative)
- Approximate purchase date and purchase location if known
- Approximate denomination and serial number range if known
- A signature notarized or guaranteed by a financial institution
The Treasury searches its records (including older microfilm archives) and either issues replacement bonds, redeems them at current value, or notifies you that no record was found. The search can take several months in busy periods.
What you'll need to redeem a bond you have in hand
Easy case: you found the actual paper bond in a drawer. To redeem:
- Some local banks redeem savings bonds for existing customers, up to a per-bond or per-day limit. Call ahead — not every branch handles them, and policies have tightened over the past several years.
- For larger redemptions or if your bank won't, mail the bond to TreasuryDirect with FS Form 1522 and a signature certification from a bank officer.
- Bring government-issued ID and have the bond unsigned. The bank will witness the signature at redemption.
The redemption value is the bond's current value (purchase price plus accumulated interest up to maturity). Once a bond reaches final maturity (30 years for most EE/I bonds; varies for older series), it stops earning interest, so there's no benefit to holding a matured bond unredeemed.
How to claim a deceased relative's bonds
If you've inherited bonds, the path depends on how the bonds are titled:
- Sole owner, no co-owner or beneficiary listed: the estate claims them. You'll need a death certificate, letters testamentary, and the bonds (or Form 1048 if lost). If the estate is small enough for a small-estate affidavit in your state, that may substitute.
- Co-owner listed: the surviving co-owner can redeem with a death certificate.
- Payable-on-death beneficiary listed: the beneficiary redeems with a death certificate and ID.
For any heir claim involving lost bonds, Form 1048 is the right starting point. The Treasury reissues or redeems in the name of the rightful heir once paperwork is verified.
Tax treatment to be aware of
Savings bond interest is federally taxable but exempt from state and local income tax. You owe federal tax on accumulated interest in the year you redeem the bond (or the year it reaches final maturity, whichever comes first — though enforcement on the latter is inconsistent).
If you've been sitting on bonds that matured years ago, you technically owed tax in the year of final maturity, not the year you redeem. In practice, most people pay it in the year of redemption when they receive the 1099-INT. Talk to your CPA if the bonds matured more than a few years ago and the amount is significant.
If the bonds are used for qualified higher-education expenses in the year of redemption, the interest may be partially or fully tax-free under the Education Savings Bond Program (income limits apply).
Watch out for fee-charging savings bond services
Treasury Hunt is free. Form 1048 is free. Bank redemption is free. The Treasury never charges to search for, replace, or redeem savings bonds.
A few private services charge a fee to 'search' for matured bonds — they're usually running the same Treasury Hunt query you can run yourself in two minutes. Some are honest about being a convenience service; some are not. There's no reason to pay one. If a service contacts you claiming to have found a specific bond and demanding a fee or SSN before disclosure, ignore it; it's not how the Treasury operates.