United States two-dollar bill
| (United States) | |
|---|---|
| Value | $2.00 |
| Width | 156 mm |
| Height | 66.3 mm |
| Weight | Approx. 1 g |
| Security features | None |
| Paper type | 75% cotton 25% linen |
| Years of printing | 1862–1966, 1976–present (Federal Reserve Note, current form) |
| Obverse | |
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| Design | Thomas Jefferson |
| Design date | 1928 |
| Reverse | |
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| Design | Trumbull's Declaration of Independence |
| Design date | 1976 |
The United States two-dollar bill ($2) is a current denomination of U.S. currency. The third U.S. President (1801–09), Thomas Jefferson, is featured on the obverse of the note. The reverse features the painting The Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull. Throughout the $2 bill's pre-1929 life as a large-sized note, it was issued as a United States Note, National Bank Note, silver certificate, and Treasury or "Coin" Note. When U.S. currency was changed to its current size, the $2 bill was issued only as a United States Note. Production went on until 1966, when the series was discontinued. Ten years went by before the $2 bill was reissued as a Federal Reserve Note with a new reverse design. $2 bills are seldom seen in circulation as a result of banking policies with businesses which has resulted in low production numbers due to lack of demand. This comparative scarcity in circulation, coupled with a lack of public knowledge that the bill is still in production and circulation, has also inspired urban legends and occasionally has created problems for people trying to use the bill to make purchases.
The denomination of two dollars was authorized under a congressional act, and first used in March 1862. The denomination was continuously used until the 1960s; by this time the United States Note was the only remaining class of U.S. currency the two dollar bill was assigned to. In 1966 it was decided to discontinue all two dollar United States Notes from production. The $2 bill initially was not reassigned to the Federal Reserve Note class of United States currency and was thus fully discontinued; the Treasury Department cited the $2 bill's low use and unpopularity as the reason for not immediately resuming use of the denomination. In 1976 production of the two-dollar denomination was resumed and the two-dollar bill was finally assigned as a Federal Reserve Note, with a new reverse design featuring John Trumbull's depiction of the drafting of the United States Declaration of Independence replacing the previous design of Monticello. It has remained a current denomination since then. It was estimated that if the two-dollar bill replaced approximately half of the one-dollar bills in circulation, the federal government would be able to save about $26 million in 1976 dollars ($109 million adjusted for inflation) over the period from 1976 to 1981, due to reduced production, storage, and shipping costs.
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