What is the deal with $2 bills? Will the government ever stop printing them and why do people think they are they so rare? The bill has gone through a unique past. It’s past reflects the history of the United States and it is one of the most uncommon bills ever made in the US!

The two-dollar bill was first printed in 1862, and originally featured a portrait of Alexander Hamilton on the front. However in 1862, the bill was changed to feature the 3rd President, Thomas Jefferson. This was far from the last changes this currency would receive though. According to The Two Dollar Bill Website throughout the bill's 150 year lifespan it has changed over 10 times. Now that's a record! Paper money had a hard time catching up with coins though, the main reason was because most people didn't make more than $15 a month between the late 1800s and early 1900s. Now days T-Shirts cost that much money there goes your month's payment! The bills finally caught up, but then The Great Depression hit. Are country was in poverty and most things didn't cost more than a dollar so there was no use for the $2 bill. After the Great Depression the $2 bills became bribery for electoral votes. So if you had one people would assume you had been bribed.

Although in 1966 the two dollar bill finally reached its end. It was discontinued for 10 years but in 1976 the government decided to make them again. According to Tommy Anders from Marketplace the main reason that they were put back in circulation was because 1976 was the 200th anniversary. They liked the design so much that they decided to keep the design. So the current version is the bicentennial two dollar bill. Another reason was because it costs 5 cents to make a one dollar bill and 5 cents to make a two dollar bill so they were making more money when they made two dollar bills. The first time it was printed after it was discontinued the press made 400 million of them that's twice as many twos as they made ones. However in the last 18 months only 45 million came off the press.

The current two dollar bill was most recently printed in 1976 it's the newest version of the two dollar bill. It has the portrait of Thomas Jefferson on the front. The back features the congress declaring the Declaration of Independence.  According to  the two dollar bill website the two-dollar bill makes up only about 1% of all paper bills being made by the US Treasury. Also according to America's rarest US currency out of the 1.2 trillion worth of coins and bills in circulation right now, less than 0.001% are twos.

So although two dollar bills may seem rare and valuable they are not really as valuable as they seem because they are worth their face value. But if you do find a two dollar bill you might want to keep it because the only way to get twos is to order them from the bank. The reason for this is because they are not circulated. So now that you have learned a little more about the two dollar bill when you see one next and it becomes a conversation starter you can tell them about the true history of the two dollar bill.