What’s the deal with the unpopularity of the $2 bill?

22 comments

1. The $1 bill also exists, which largely invalidates the purpose of a $2 bill

2. You can get them from most banks if you ask but with the $1 and $5 bills they’re ultimately superfluous.

3. It’s just kind of useless. We already have $1 and $5 bills, there isn’t much of a need for a $2 bill.

   Aside from that, standard cash registers don’t have a spot for them.

4. There just isn’t much of a use for them and there aren’t a whole lot of them in circulation so it’s not like most people ever get a chance to use them.

5. They just never caught on because $1 and $5 bills work just fine. You can get them at some banks or order them from the mint [in uncut sheets](https://catalog.usmint.gov/paper-currency/uncut-currency/).

6. A kind of related aside, but someone recently paid their library fine with $10 worth of $2 bills.

   They’re kind of an interesting novelty, but it’s a denomination that doesn’t really make too much sense for everyday use anymore.

7. $2 bills could be useful. At least around here, soda from a vending machine is $1.75 or a snack is usually $1 and some change. If vending machines accepted $2 bills then $2 bills at least could have this common use.

8. There was little reason for merchants to request $2 bills. Because of this, the bill never really got into circulation. Since it is rare, it became a novelty when people did get them, which lead to further withholding.

   You can “buy” them at Monticello, the historic home of Thomas Jefferson, the person whose face is on the bill. They cost $2 a piece, heh. They are all nice and clean and fresh, so it feels weird to even fold them let alone spend them.

9. When I worked at a cash register I used to hate dealing with $2 bills because we didn’t have enough slots for them. I’d have to throw them underneath the drawer and remember not to forget to count them at the end of my shift.

   Basically a $2 denomination was always unnecessary. To the point that there are some people who have never even seen one in real life. That’s where you get those stories that people think it’s fake. The same can be said of fifty cent pieces, silver dollars, Sacajawea dollars, and Susan B. Anthony dollars (which were often confused with quarters because they are only slightly larger and would jam up vending machines).

10. Two dollar bills in the wild have been rare since at least the 70s. They were usually something you could ask for at the bank if you wanted them.

    For as long as I can remember they’ve had “guy that wants to be memorable” energy. Maybe grandpa kept a couple in his wallet to give the grandkids, maybe something that gets used as a tip.

11. I love $2 bills. I used to get them as birthday money from grandparents, and when I took a job as a bank teller I’d get like $50-$100 in $2 bills every paycheck. I still do it now that I have a different job, and it’s fun freaking people out with them or as a conversation starter. Love leaving them for tips too.

12. I had the police called on me at one point because the store I went to thought it was fake even though it passed the marker test. I got out of it alive and without a jail stay but that discouraged me from ever trying to spend one again. I have about 10 of them that my grandparents gave me over the years.

13. I work at a bank and businesses would bring the $2 bills or $1 coins in to the bank for deposit instead of circulating them back to customers as change. The oddity of them is a big hurdle to wide circulation.

14. People thought it was fake 30 years ago too.

    They’ve never been widely used.

15. The key part of the equation you’re missing is the hot rod Ford.

16. Partly gambler’s superstition, $2 bills are considered unlucky at the horse track.

17. The Wikipedia article under the “Rarity” section has some great comments about the $2 Bill.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_two-dollar_bill

18. I love $2 bills. I get them to hand out as tips while on vacation

19. They’re real but not widely used by the public and a victim of hording leading many over history to think they’re not real.

    [United States two-dollar bill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_two-dollar_bill)

20. $2 are often used in strip clubs, so strippers can double thier tips in the US….but are rarely in general circulation….I see them occasionally in the wild..but not very often.

21. They’re rare and printed much less often than other bills. Even moreso now that so many people don’t use cash. 🤷‍♂️

22. They’re not rare. Banks will order them for you if you ask, but they’ll usually tell you that you need to order a minimum.