U.S. Currency Auctions estimates that uncirculated $2 bills from 1890 could sell for up to $4,500, and uncirculated bills from almost any year between 1862 and 1917 could sell for at least $1,000.
The auction site reports that collectors offer these prices depending on factors such as printing method and location.
Newer bills could also have significant value, as a $2 bill printed in 2003 recently sold at auction for $2,400. This particular note had a very low serial number for the 2003 series and was sold through Heritage Auction, the largest numismatic auction house in the world. It was later resold for $4,000, but Heritage estimates it could now be purchased for $6,000.
If you own an uncirculated 1890 $2 bill with a red seal, it is now worth $4,500. $2 bills with a red seal can sell for $300 to $2,500, while bills with a brown or blue seal can fetch hundreds.
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About the $2 bill
The $2 bill has a bad reputation due to superstition and its association with illegal activities such as voter bribery. The U.S. Treasury Department made an attempt to popularize the bill in the early 1900s, but it failed. As a result, the government stopped issuing new double notes for a time.
The bill was reintroduced in 1976 to mark the bicentennial of the United States and is still in circulation today.
The front of the current version features the face of Thomas Jefferson, the main author of the Declaration of Independence. On the back there is a portrait of the signer of this document.
The Federal Reserve reported that in 2022, the circulation of $2 bills was $1.5 billion, a small fraction of the total $54.1 billion in circulation that year.
Is the $2 bill rare?
In 2017, there were 1.2 billion $2 bills in circulation, worth $2.4 billion, according to the U.S. Currency Education Program. That makes them unusual, but not rare.
A complete list of collectible $2 bill denominations can be found by clicking on the link provided.