Yes, Virginia, There is a Two Dollar Bill
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FacebookA funny thing happened at lunch the other day… While waiting at the counter for the cashier to take my order, I overheard an interesting exchange between the guy next to me and the cashier that was helping him. He ordered his sandwich and then went to pay with a couple of two dollar bills. The cashier, a young woman of about twenty, was incredulous…
Cashier: What’s this?
Guy: A two dollar bill.
Cashier: Huh? Really?
Guy: Yeah, really.
Cashier: Are you sure it’s real money?
Guy: Yeah, it’s real.
Cashier: Are you sure? When did they start making these?
Guy: Over a hundred years ago. [Note: The $2 denomination was first introduced in July 1862]
Cashier: No way. There’s no such thing as a two dollar bill.
Guy: Yeah, there is. They don’t make ‘em anymore [Note: They actually do still make these -- see below], but it’s real money.
At this point, I interjected that she needn’t worry unless he tried to pass off a three dollar bill. She gave me a quizzical look and then checked with a co-worker. Sure enough, two dollar bills are real, the co-worker said. And shortly thereafter life at the lunch counter returned to normal.
Kind of reminds me of this story, or perhaps this one (login required, use BugMeNot), although security didn’t get involved, nobody was arrested, and the secret service wasn’t needed to straighten things out.
Published on July 22nd, 2005 - 11 Comments
Filed under: Miscellany
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About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
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The $2 bill is actually still made.
http://www.treas.gov/education.....s.shtml#q5
Comment by tomdobb — Jul 22nd 2005 @ 10:17 amI love carrying around “funny money” like that — $2 bills, silver and gold dollars, half dollars. They’re fun to give as tips.
Comment by mbhunter — Jul 22nd 2005 @ 11:03 amWhen I was in college, I worked as a cashier for two years and I never saw a 2 dollar bill. This is a news to me. Interesting!
Comment by The Real Returns — Jul 22nd 2005 @ 1:25 pmtomdobb, you’re right… According to WikiPedia they were printed as recently as 2004:
geez, i always thought these kind of stories were just for jokes.
only currency I dont see regularly is the gold dollar coins. which I only received once through all these years…
Comment by Cap — Jul 22nd 2005 @ 6:11 pmHeck, I keep a supply of the gold dollar coins in the key tray of my car…the local self-serve car wash (great for getting off those stubborn deposits of pigeon-sh!t that accumulate when parking downtown) gives a 25% discount if you pay with golden dollar coins, vs the price if paid in quarters or bills.
Comment by Matt — Jul 23rd 2005 @ 1:52 amI work at a movie theater and get all sorts of bills and coins. I have a Silver Certificate($1 bill), A couple of silver quarters, nickels and A ton of Silver 50 cent peices. one is a 1932 Liberty coin.
Comment by Dave — Jul 23rd 2005 @ 9:37 amApparently $2 bills are popular at betting places.
Dollar coins are popular in the Boston Public Transportation System and in some automated Postal Office Stamp Selling Machines.
Comment by Jose Anes — Jul 25th 2005 @ 3:07 pmI love $2 bills, they’re such a novelty and, as your story attests to, still many people don’t know they exist.
Comment by jim — Jul 26th 2005 @ 3:00 pmI use $2 bills all the time just to see the reaction of the cashier. The first problem they have is that they don’t know what part of the draw to put it in since there is no slot for the $2 bill.
Comment by Jack — Aug 2nd 2005 @ 2:42 pmSpeaking of ‘funny money’ I’m reminded of when I was travelling in Latin America in the late 60’s and 70s. I always carried JFK halves for tip money. He was idolized down South and on later visits I’d always have people going out of their way to assist me in any way.
Comment by martin Jordan — Oct 4th 2008 @ 8:42 pm