[jdm]

Furthermore, considering this line: "placed inside a compartment were two paper packets" there's a good chance the bills are in decent shape. The right compartment could adequately protect the bills from the climate changes over the past several decades.

[nopardons]

It's not what condition the money is in now, after having been stashed away, but what was the condition when they were stashed away. That would determine the condition today.