The History Surrounding the Two Dollar Bill: What You Should Consider

By Edna S. Baker

The history of currency, for some, is profoundly tantalizing stuff, for most others, probably, not so much. There are a few notes of US currency, though, that have continuously seemed to give rise to a sort of underground interest among folks, most notorious among them being the US Two-Dollar Bill. Lots of people seem to share an affection and general fondness toward this US currency note and, quite remarkably, perhaps even more people than that actually do not even know that they exist! Indeed, there are many websites devoted to the 2 dollar bill, and even this new site (link: twodollarbill.net) for effectively and efficiently tracking them all over the Usa. But how many are truly familiarized with the actual history of the US two-dollar bill? Let's take a glimpse then, shall we?

The two-dollar bill was first issued in 1862, and in the beginning featured a side view depiction of Alexander Hamilton on the obverse. In 1869 though, the former US Secretary of the Treasury was replaced by his political arch-nemesis of sorts, 3rd American President, Thomas Jefferson. This was, never the less, far from the final changes this currency would come by, and that's not just relative the likeness on the front. In fact, this is probably the most revised bill throughout the history of US currency. Throughout its over 150 year life-span, this bill has carried numerous different "note" references, including; United States Note, Treasury Note, Silver Certificate, and Federal Reserve Bank Note.

For a short time, civil-war General Winfield Scott Hancock took the front face of the note. Eventually, another former US Treasury Secretary's portrait adorned the bill, William Windom, replacing Hancock in 1891. Arguably, one of the most interesting times for this bill was in 1896, when it was reissued again as the Educational Series, sporting symbolic representations of the introduction, through science, of steam and electricity to the worlds of manufacturing, and commerce. The reverse held portraits of both Robert Fulton, who brought us the steam engine, and Samuel Morse, for his contributions in the area of electricity. From that point on, the bill's imagery was changed another three times, and the bill was even discontinued in August of 1966, before being resurrected for several additional printings, all with various changes being made. That's certainly a colorful and sorted history by any standard!

The next modification after the Educational Series of 1896, was in 1891, when President George Washington was featured. This was succeeded by yet another change in 1918, returning Thomas Jefferson to the obverse of the note, with a WWI battleship on the inverse side. Then, in 1929, the bill was re-sized to its present measurements and the image on the backside was replaced to Thomas Jefferson's well-known home, Monticello. This version endured for several decades until, in 1966, the two-dollar bill met its unfortunate ruination when it was formally scrubed.

This bill is tough to kill it appears, as in 1976, it was reinstated for the Bicentennial, accentuating a version of John Turnbull's "The Signing of the Declaration of Independence" on the back side. There were two more series thereafter, with one in 1995, and the present-day series, which was most recently printed in 2003. The two-dollar bill, in spite of its resolute history, is a low demand bill, as is printed less regularly, and in lower amounts than other bills. The two-dollar bill makes up only about 1 % of all paper bills being generated by the US Treasury, which may just add to its mystique. There are some great images of the various kinds of two-dollar bills uploaded on the Wikipedia site, for visual reference, if needed.

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