--- title: What the Buck Special Bills: Gold, Electric and Explosive description: Gold, Electric, Explosive and Collector Bills: what each effect does, how they chain and how gold mixes with the others. url: https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/special-bills/ --- Bills # What the Buck special bills How special bills chain - E **Electric Bill**Lightning jumps to 9 random bills for 12 damage each - X **Explosive Bill**Blasts every bill within 34 pixels; blasts can set off other explosives - G **Golden Bill**Pays 200%; from the ATM it gilds bills it touches for 5 seconds - C **Collector Bill**Absorbs up to 4 touching stacks and pays out 800% _Built from the skill-tree text read on screen in release-day recordings and the developer's forum reply on gold._ What the Buck special bills are ordinary bills with an effect on top: Electric, Explosive, Golden and Collector. confirmed Each one is unlocked in the skill tree with a 3% starting chance for a withdrawn bundle to carry it, and each one turns a single breaker hit into damage across the table. confirmed Fuel Bills and Diamonds work differently and have their own pages: [flamethrower and Fuel Bills](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/flamethrower-and-fuel-bills/) and [diamonds](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/diamonds/). ## Which special bill comes first They unlock in the order of the skill tree’s money branches, so most players meet them in the same order: | Special bill | Branch | Starting effect (release day) | Achievement | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Electric | $1 | 3% chance; lightning strikes 9 random bills for 12 damage each | Electric Bills, Live Wire (destroy 100) | | Golden | $2 | 3% chance; worth 200% of its value | Golden Bills, Gold Rush (destroy 100) | | Explosive | $5 | 3% chance; blasts every bill within 34 pixels | Explosive Bills, Demolition (destroy 100) | | Collector | $10 | 3% chance; absorbs up to 4 other stacks it touches, pays 800% | Collector Bills, Curator (destroy 50) | Electric and Golden show up within the first shift. confirmed The demo already has Gold, Electric and Explosive Bills; Collector Bills are full-game only. confirmed ## What the Buck electric bills When you shred an electric bill, lightning strikes up to nine random bills anywhere on the table for 12 damage each. confirmed Follow-up nodes add targets (“+2 max lightning targets”), more lightning damage and a share of income from bills destroyed by lightning. confirmed Lightning is the first effect that clears bills you never touched, which is why it feels so strong in the first shift. In one pre-release run every lightning node was maxed for about $3 million each in the third shift. confirmed ## What the Buck explosive bills An explosive bill blasts every bill within 34 pixels when it is shredded. confirmed Blasts set off other explosives in range, so a crowded table goes up in a chain: the release-day player watched one chain clear the whole board. confirmed Upgrades raise blast damage, blast radius and income from blasted bills (+15% per step early on). confirmed ## What the Buck gold bills A golden bill pays 200% of its normal value. confirmed A later node makes gold contagious: a golden bill that came out of the ATM turns any bill it touches golden after five seconds of contact. confirmed The store page also mentions a gold shockwave that gilds the bills around a shredded gold bill. confirmed How gold mixes with the other effects was settled by the developer on the forum: since 10 September, gold no longer replaces another effect. A gilded electric or explosive bill keeps its effect, also pays the gold bonus, and is drawn half gold and half in its own colour. Only bills that left the ATM golden spread gold. confirmed Practical tip: let a few ATM-golden bills sit in a pile for a few seconds before you hit it. Every bill they gild pays double, so waiting costs nothing. reported ## What the Buck collector bills A collector bill absorbs up to four other stacks it touches and pays out 800% of what it holds. confirmed Later nodes raise how many bundles one collector can hold and its payout. In a release-day full clear, the end-of-shift income breakdown listed the collector as the biggest earner, far ahead of the flamethrower at 1%. confirmed Collectors have a lot of health once they are full. If they start surviving your hits, buy a few levels of Damage rather than more collector capacity. confirmed ## How effects combine on one bill - A bill can be golden **and** electric or explosive; it keeps both. confirmed - A prestige-tree node lets prestige coins roll explosive, electric, collector or fuel at the same chances as bills, and a later one lets diamonds do the same. confirmed - Chains feed each other: lightning hits an explosive, the blast reaches a collector, and the collector pays out on everything it absorbed. ## Special bill mistakes to avoid - Buying every effect at once early. Unlock one, then put money into its damage or target nodes before the next. - Letting explosions destroy collectors before they have absorbed anything. Hit the collector last when you can. - Expecting gold to spread from any golden bill. Only ATM-golden bills spread it. confirmed ## Sources Last checked: 10 November 2026. Marks: confirmed = official notes, the store page, the game itself or a recording of it; reported = two or more players; unverified = one source. - [Release-day 100% run](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtjuwrgHzQU&t=424s) · at 07:04, 24:19, 32:44, 16:36, 39:06, 29:34 - [Pre-release key run](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL1DyJptysQ&t=1104s) · at 18:24, 58:43, 32:41, 84:46 - [Release-day run (Blitz)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dklE9_1pEw&t=969s) · at 16:09 - [Steam store page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4832970/What_the_Buck/) - [Developer reply](https://steamcommunity.com/app/4832970/discussions/0/586186803158163917/) - [Japanese release-day clear](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_58s9JvCR8&t=991s) · at 16:31, 21:10 - [Steam achievements](https://steamcommunity.com/stats/4832970/achievements/) ## More in Bills - [Bill values Every bill from $1 to $100, coins and bundles: where each one comes from and how to make bills worth more.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/bill-types/) - [Flamethrower and fuel How to unlock the flamethrower, what Fuel Bills do, and how burning bills spread fire across the table.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/flamethrower-and-fuel-bills/) - [Diamonds How Diamonds are unlocked, what happens when one shatters, and how to get the Diamond Hands achievement.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/diamonds/) - [Investment Papers How stock certificates reach your tray, how shares and staking work, and when to tear a paper for the payout.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/investment-papers/) - [Combo and Frenzy How the combo meter fills, what each Frenzy stage multiplies, and how to keep a Frenzy going.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/combo-and-frenzy/)