Bills worth $2 were first issued in 1862, but they were often not printed in large quantities compared to other bills. In some years, like 2023, the U.S. Department of Treasury skips printing $2 bills altogether, according to Federal Reserve data.
Many people have collected these rare bills over the years in hopes they might become more valuable over time.
VERIFY reader Kathy reached out to ask about advertisements they saw claiming $2 bills are now allegedly worth more than $2.
THE QUESTION
Are some $2 bills worth more money?
THE SOURCES
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Michael Steinmetz, vice president of Steinmetz Coins & Currency
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Raiden Honaker, consignment director at Heritage Auctions
THE ANSWER
Yes, some $2 bills are worth more money.
WHAT WE FOUND
Although many $2 bills aren’t worth any additional value, some rare bills have sold for thousands of dollars. Whether a $2 bill is worth more than $2 is dependent on when it was printed, its serial number and its quality.
Bills printed in the 1800s generally are worth more, according to a U.S. Currency Auctions guide that prices these rare $2 bills anywhere from $75 to up to a couple thousand dollars.
More recent bills can also be worth a bit more than $2. “The 1963 and ’53 series. They do have additional value, none too crazy though,” Michael Steinmetz, vice president of Steinmetz Coins & Currency, told VERIFY partner station Fox 43.
He added, “$3-4 a piece on regular notes. Really gorgeous ones, yeah you can do a lot more money, you can probably get $20-$30 on a perfect note.”
A low serial number can also add more value, especially if the bill is in pristine condition.
“Someone had, I believe, a number 1. So it would be like getting that note in your hand and looking down and seeing all zeros and a 1 at the end. I believe that note was also brand new and never used. It’s a combination that just doesn’t happen, which was why that note was worth so much money,” Steinmetz said.
In 2022, a $2 bill printed in 2003 was first sold for $2,400 and later resold for $4,000 through Heritage Auctions. That bill had a very low serial number with all zeros and a 7 at the end. The bill also has a star after the serial number, which means it’s a replacement bill that was printed to fix an error made on another bill.
Bills with major errors, like a serial number printed twice, could sell for more too, Raiden Honaker, consignment director at Heritage Auctions, told VERIFY partner station WFAA..
To get an idea of what a $2 bill may be worth if sold in an auction, the U.S. Currency Auctions website has a guide to the rarest bills. Heritage Auctions also currently has various listings for $2 bills with estimated values of a few hundred dollars.
Fox43 reporter Jackie De Tore and WFAA reporter Matt Howerton contributed to this report.