US CURRENCY (5) 2003A $2 FRNs OLD PAPER MONEY CRISP CUs

Facts About $2 Notes

• The first $2 notes (called United States Notes or "Legal Tenders") were issued by the Federal Government in 1862 and featured a portrait of the first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton (1789-1795).

• The first use of Thomas Jefferson's portrait on $2 notes was on Series 1869 United States Notes. The same portrait has been used for all series of $2 United States Notes as well as for all $2 Federal Reserve Notes.

• Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's estate in Virginia, was first featured as the vignette on the back of the Series 1928 $2 United States Note.

• In celebration of the United States' bicentennial, a $2 Federal Reserve Note, Series 1976, was introduced. The new design maintained the portrait of Jefferson on the face but the back was changed from Monticello to a vignette of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The most recent printing of the $2 note has the Series 2003 date. There are no plans to redesign the $2 note.

• Vignette on the Back of the Current $2 Federal Reserve Note
  The $2 Federal Reserve Note features an engraving of John Trumbull's painting "The Signing of the Declaration of Independence." The original Trumbull painting portrayed 47 people, 42 of whom were signers of the Declaration (there were 56 total). However, because of a limited amount of space on the note, 5 of 47 men in the painting were not included in the engraving.
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  More Facts About $2 Notes

  • The most recent printing of United States' two dollar bills is the series from 2003. The bills have been around for a long time, with samples from 1928, 1953, and 1963 being relatively common. The modern U.S. two dollar bills were introduced in 1976, for the U.S. bicentennial celebration. After a great deal of fanfare at the time of their release, they are virtually uncirculated today. In 1996, it was announced that the U.S. treasury had ordered $102 million worth of the series 1995 U.S.$2 bills even though banks seemed to have an ample supply of the 1976 series notes. CNN ran a story on this which included a QuickTime movie (1.2MB)) on $2 bills.
    When spending $2 bills, people do almost anything to purchase them from their employer so they can take them home. Why? They “collect” them, or they are “saving” them. This is quite odd behavior. When the 1976 $2 bills were issued, many people took them over to their local U.S. Post Office to have a cancellation applied to prove that the bill was obtained on the first day of its availability.  Current currency from the United States has green Treasury seals and serial numbers, as shown in the above notes. People often asked about U.S. $2 bills with red seals. These "red seal" $2 notes were issued from the time the first "small-sized" notes were issued in 1928 until 1963. An example from 1963 is above. The 1928 bills have the red seal on the left, as shown below. The United States has been issuing $2 bills for quite a long time. An example from 1862 is below.
    Many countries have $2 bills, or bills which represent two units of the local currency. Among these are the following:
    Canada replaced paper one dollar and two dollar notes with coins over the last few years. The one dollar coin is called a “loonie” because it has a picture of a Loon on one side.		The two dollar coin is commonly called a “toonie”. The lowest denomination note currently being produced and circulated is a five dollar note.
    Jamaica no longer produces $2 bills. They are simply not worth printing. In Mid-1995, the exchange rate for U.S. dollars was 33 to 1.  Australia: Singapore: New Zealand: Papua New Guinea (Kina): Rhodesia (Dollar - 1977): South Africa (Rand): Barbados: Argentina (Peso): Brazil (Real): In 2001, Brazil issued its first R$2,00 bill. A .pdf file (in Portugese) with a detailed description of the new bill is available. India (Rupee): Fiji: Germany (Marks, 1920):