When you look inside your wallet, you might find a $1, $5, $10, $20, even a $50 or $100 bill, but you almost never see a $2 bill with a picture of Thomas Jefferson on the front. The $2 bill has had an unfortunate history in the US economy, but it is perfect legal tender.

In 1862, the federal government printed the first nationalized paper notes. The only bills that were printed were the $1 and $2 bills. The nationalized coins had already been in circulation for at least the last sixty years. Therefore, the federal government was not sure how the public would react to using paper money for the first time.

Before the turn of the 20th century, the average worker earned $15 a month. Inflation slowly reduced the value of paper money, but then the Great Depression plunged the economy into chaos. Most items cost a lot and most people didn’t have a lot of money. Paper money was rarely used. Therefore, owning $2 bills was considered a luxury that only the rich could afford. It even became known as a “shady” note used for shady exchanges such as: gambling, prostitution, and “under the table” dealings.

After the economy recovered, $2 bills were rarely printed, because the federal government began printing many new $5, $10, and $20 bills between 1928 and 1950. So the lone $2 bill was lost in the shuffle. .

In 1966, the federal government didn’t know what to make of the bill, so it stopped printing them altogether. However, they returned to circulation in 1976. However, the average consumer began to keep them as collector’s items. A few years ago, I remember my uncle handing me a crisp new $2 bill housed in a special leather case at Christmas. He gave the whole family the same gift. Everyone was so impressed that we wonder how much he paid for it. “Two dollar bills,” he said.

A common misconception is that the $2 bill is no longer in circulation. However, that is not the case as the official Bureau of Engraving lists the $2 bill as one of the small denominations of US currency. Today millions of these notes are being reprinted in circulation. However, people still stop when they are handed a $2 bill in change; they think they were given a collector’s item, worth more money, or it may be a novelty item the government started printing.

Although $2 bills are rare, it is perfectly legal to use them to buy something. But if he’s stopped because the cashier thinks the bill is fake, he’s now prepared to talk about his story.