1. When thinking about genuine United States currency, what bill comes to mind? Most people believe it is the one-dollar bill; however, when it comes to American currency, no other bill currency is more genuine than the two-dollar bill. In fact, the Continental Congress authorized the first two-dollar bills in 1776, nine days before the Declaration of Independence was printed. Those first bills were known as Continentals.
2. More than a half dozen public figures have appeared on the two-dollar bill. In 1862, a profile of Alexander Hamilton was on the front of the bill. The back of the bill featured a seal in the center and a large 2 in each corner. In 1917, Thomas Jefferson appeared on the two-dollar bill and the old Capitol building was pictured on the back of the bill. This version was the largest of the two-dollar bills; it was 40 percent larger than the size of bill currency currently in use. Today, Thomas Jefferson is on the front of the two-dollar bill and John Trumbull's painting, Declaration of Independence, is on the back. The original painting included 47 men at the signing, but that was too many people to squeeze onto the back of the bill! The painting was adapted and only 42 of the original 47 men appear on the back of the note.
3. The U.S. Treasury has included the two-dollar bill in its currency for all but ten years of its history. The bills were taken out of a circulation in 1966 and did not return until 1976. Bank teller and cashier drawers did not have a slot for two-dollar bills. Accepting the bills created havoc in the drawers. The use of a two-dollar bill to buy a snack from a vending machine was not possible either. The machines were not programmed to accept that denomination. The same was true at ticket kiosks for purchasing bus or train tickets. It became apparent that few places wanted to accept the two-dollar bills, so people will not want to carry them in their wallets.
4. The two-dollar bill returned as legal currency in 1976. Why bring back something that had been so unpopular? The answer is simple. It costs money to print money. At the time, the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, an agency within the U.S. Treasury, spent about a nickel for each one-dollar bill it printed. They could print a two-dollar bill for the same amount, but they would only need half as many bills. The treasury issued 400 million two-dollar bills that year.
5. At first, banks reported a great demand for the bills, but after a week, interest dropped sharply. People were not requesting them to use like their other currency. They were tucking the bills away in drawers and boxes or giving them to their children or grandchildren as a special gift. Circulation of the bills was sluggish at best. The same problems existed with cash drawers and vending machines. In addition, since the bills had been out of circulation for a decade, many store clerks would turn the bills away believing they were counterfeit or fake currency.
6. The treasury has not totally given up on the two-dollar bill, though. There are still more than 1.5 billion dollars of them in circulation. The last printing was in 1995. One-dollar bills have a life span of about 18 months. The two-dollar bills do not get out much though, so they last about six years. The longer life means fewer bills are destroyed, so new two-dollar bills need to be printed less often.
