Government May Replenish Rare $2 Bills

Yahoo! ^ | Thursday, Jun 12, 2003 | JEANNINE AVERSA, Associated Press Writer

[Willie Green]

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

WASHINGTON - Like 200 bad pennies, it keeps turning up. The $2 bill, shunned by the American public for decades, could be making a comeback. After seven years, the government is thinking of printing the forgotten greenback once again.

"We do contemplate ordering more $2 notes," said Federal Reserve spokesman David Skidmore. The Fed has been talking to the makers U.S. paper money, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, about the matter.

The Federal Reserve, the supplier of cash to the nation's banks, had a huge pile of the $2 bills stashed away in its vaults back in 1996, when the last batch of the notes were printed.

Although the Fed still has a supply of the $2 notes, it's a much smaller one. No one knows exactly why, but some blame the human tendency to make a keepsake of an oddity.

"They are collected mostly," said Lyn Knight, president of Lyn Knight Currency Auctions. "People like to save $2 bills_ kind of like half dollars."

Roughly 9.5 million of the notes are currently held at the Fed's vaults, down from around 160 million in 1996, Skidmore said. (The Fed's inventory of $1 bills, by comparison, stands at 2.37 billion.)

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing may print 121.6 million new $2 bills in fiscal year 2004, which starts Oct. 1, said BEP spokeswoman Claudia Dickens. "Around July or August we will be able to confirm that number positively," she said.

When new $2 bills were last printed in 1996, some 163.6 million of the notes were made. The government stopped making the bills because there wasn't much demand for them from banks and their customers. Cash registers typically don't have bins for the $2 note.

"I think people are just saving them. The general population, when something is unusual in terms of money, they pull it and set it aside — `Gee, I haven't seen one of those,' " said David Sundman, a paper money expert and president of Littleton Coin Co. "It is just human nature."

Some people like to give them as gifts or use them at $2 betting windows at horse racetracks, a few money mavens suggested.

The $2 note can be traced back to the days of the American Revolution, when the Continental Congress issued $2 denominations in "bills of credit for the defense of America," the bureau says. Some experts say there were cases of $2 notes even earlier.

The current $2 bill, features the visage of Thomas Jefferson, the nation's third president and author of the Declaration of Independence on the front. On the back of the bill, the signing of the Declaration of Independence is featured. This version of the note came about in 1976 to celebrate the U.S. Bicentennial.

Around 655 million $2 notes are currently in circulation worldwide.

Even so, "people don't see many of them and aren't used to seeing them," said Doug Tillett, a spokesman at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. "You have to think back to seventh grade civics and think is this legal tender? Is there a $2 bill?"

The bureau doesn't have plans to make over the $2 bill as part of its broader, redesign effort. A new, more colorful $20 bill aimed at thwarting high-tech counterfeiters is first in line for the new look and will be put into circulation later this year. The $20 bill is the most knocked-off note in the United States.

The $2 bill could became a staple in cash registers and wallets, if the government ever were to decide to give the $1 bill — the most commonly used bill in the United States — the boot, experts said. But barring that unlikely event, the $2 bill — just like the penny — is probably going to stick around for a while, experts said.

"It is part of our history," said Sundman. "It is kind of a relic. A survivor."

[zeugma]

I've got a bunch postmarked the first day of issue.

[dljordan]

Maybe they can get the three-dollar bill for California. Ok, I'm sorry I said that.

[zeugma]

I did essentially the same thing with some silver when I was about 7-8 or so.

Sheepishly holds head in shame.

[Redcloak]

Howzabout this one?

[Atlas Sneezed]

There is also a 20 cent Euro coin (and I forgot the 2 cent on in my post above.)

I think that coins and currency should range between what a McDonalds worker earns in a minute (a dime) and at LEAST what a plumber earns in a day ($500).

[PoorMuttly]

Great. Then I can get change for this 40.

[Atlas Sneezed]

"Think about it: You go and buy a candy bar and it costs 13 cents. You give the guy a dime and two two-cent pieces. Well, you need one-cent in change. If there's no penny, how do you do that?"

Tell me what kind of real world transactions involve increments of less than ten cents? Paying a day laborer for ten seconds work? Buying an ounce of flour? A sip of Pepsi? A half-cup of gasoline?

The fact is that throughout most of the 20th century (during much of which prices were one-tenth of current prices) no one complained at having to round up or down to arrive at an even hundredth of a dollar. Shop keepers didn't agonize whether to price candy at one cent or two, or whether the one cent piece was too large to enjoy.

I'm hard pressed to think of a transaction that requires pennies and nickels. And consider the real economic waste cost to society for all the time and resources spent keeping those tiny coins in circulation. (For those who like the penny, why not a return to the half-cent, for some ultra-precise calculation of sales taxes? Should I feel screwed by the sales tax rounding that costs me up to a half of a cent on some transactions?)

[4mycountry]

It's hypothetical. I just picked any edible object you could find at a gas station. Candy bar was the first that came to mind.

[4mycountry]

>>>Tell me what kind of real world transactions involve increments of less than ten cents? Paying a day laborer for ten seconds work? Buying an ounce of flour? A sip of Pepsi? A half-cup of gasoline?


It doesn't need to be under 10 cents to require pennies and nickels. Have you ever heard of cents after the dollar amount? Let's say you (wanting little to no change back) had to pay these totals:


$18.94 -- Even if you choose three quarters and two dimes to make 95 cents, you'd still need a penny back.

$32.07 -- need a nickel and two pennies. A two-cent piece would be worthless here: if you give four two-cent pieces (what most FReepers are pushing for), you still need a penny in change; if you give him a dime, you need three pennies back (or a two-cent piece and a penny).

Face it: annoying as they may be, people still need small change. If it bothers you so much, do what I do--store them in a bottle or jar, then roll them up and take 'em to the bank. I got about $60 dollars before from pennies, dimes, and nickels.

[JDoutrider]

Your bank accepts rolled coin? My bank doesn't...they weigh them (loose coins same denomination)...Seems banks these days don't even trust their own customers!

[Atlas Sneezed]

It doesn't need to be under 10 cents to require pennies and nickels. Have you ever heard of cents after the dollar amount? Let's say you (wanting little to no change back) had to pay these totals: $18.94 ... $32.07

Face it: annoying as they may be, people still need small change. If it bothers you so much, do what I do--store them in a bottle or jar, then roll them up and take 'em to the bank. I got about $60 dollars before from pennies, dimes, and nickels.

Simple solution. The retailer sets the prices at $18.9, or $32.1. The whole point is to set all transactions at tenth-dollar increments, instead of the needlessly-minute hundredth-dollar increments. Imagine back when they did away with the half cent (it was worth about a nickel in current value!) Everything had to be priced at a full cent. Maybe pickles used to be priced for 2-1/2 cents a pound. Then, they changed to 2 pounds for a nickel. No problem.

Again, I repeat, what real world transactions require pricing in increments of less than a tenth dollar?

And with respect to your $60 change jar, wouldn't it have been nicer just to have $60 more in useable money in your pocket, instead of accumulating a storage and changing chore?

[4mycountry]

My bank is waaaaaaay out in the middle of the country. Everyone knows everyone and everyone trusts everyone. It's really nice.

Guess it's just a glimpse into the days gone by.

[4mycountry]

>>>And with respect to your $60 change jar, wouldn't it have been nicer just to have $60 more in useable money in your pocket, instead of accumulating a storage and changing chore?

I said I had $60. I went to my bank and cashed it. I save the change so I can get the $60 dollars in the first place. You not paying attention?

[roadcat]

Why can't we devalue the dollar in some way? So as of some future date, you turn in ten old $1 bills and get one new $1 bill. Then coffee will be 10 to 20 cents and we could use pennies again.

I know, I know. It would be a nightmare to set up. But I miss the old days where a pocketful of change was worth something. Like buying penny candy, 12 cents for twinkees, 5 cents for a large pickle, 10 cents for a soda, etc.

[Atlas Sneezed]

I may have misunderstood. I just meant that instead of dumping out the change at the end of the day like I do (because the junk coins make it too inconvenient to actually dig through and spend it during the day), you would have coins in your pocket that you might actually be able to spend.

Consider how, if nickels and pennies were eliminated, how easy it would be to pat your pocket, and get a decent estiomate of whether you had the $0.9 or $2.5 for a small purchase, or to add to some bills to avoid breaking something larger.

The Euro system does have silly little 1, 2 and 5 cent copper colored coins, but they are very light and small, and don't make estimating difficult. (I still leave them at the counter to avoid complicating unfamiliar coinage counting.)

I still am wondering if there is a transaction that needs a smaller increment than a dime.

[4mycountry]

>>>Consider how, if nickels and pennies were eliminated, how easy it would be to pat your pocket, and get a decent estiomate of whether you had the $0.9 or $2.5 for a small purchase, or to add to some bills to avoid breaking something larger.

Hmmm, you have a good point. Having solid amounts makes counting easier, but I'll just as well stick to my pennies. It helps at lunch when I have to go to a drive-through. Just give me cash back and hand me my meal.

And besides, pennies need love, and I seem to be the only one to give it. (poor pennies, lol...)

[4mycountry]

Whoops, almost forgot:

>>>I still am wondering if there is a transaction that needs a smaller increment than a dime.

Probably not, sad to say. The closest thing I can thing of are Wal-mart brand ramen noodles. 10 cents, but not below.

In today's world, everything costs more. Whatever happened to penny candies?

[DeaconBenjamin]

Not only did my local country bank accept my rolled coins, the cashier apologized for not remembering my name on sight! 8-D

[mikenola]

I'm a big fan of coinstar available at supermarkets, the fee is 7%, but better than suffering the interminable lines at the bank tellers.