$2, or more? How rarely seen bills could be worth beyond their printed value

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — How much is a dollar bill worth? For rare currency collectors, it’s a broad question, and for one type of U.S. banknote, it’s even broader.

It is difficult to find the $2 bill, which was first printed in 1862. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, there have been many editions of this $2 bill. The most recent was created in 1963.

Depending on which version of the $2 bill you’ve got on hand, in a wallet, or kept in a safety deposit box, may feature a portrait of America’s first Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton.

After a redesign in 1869, the portrait changed to Thomas Jefferson, another Founding Father and the third President of the United States, according to the U.S. Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

Depending on which version of the bill you’ve got, it could be worth far more than just the $2 printed on the front and back.

U.S. Currency Auctions claims that bills printed prior to 1976 could have a value of up to $4,500 if they were minted and printed in the year before the current printing began. Collectors can have different values even if the notes were printed in the same year.

One of the main factors in determining a bill’s worth is whether or not it was in circulation.

A $2 bill original from 1862 can have a value of $500 at its lowest for a circulated paper note to more than $2800 if it is uncirculated.

The $2 note with the highest value was the 1890 Treasury Notes versions. If uncirculated, it is worth at most $550-$2,500. Both versions of the 1890 bill have the same collector value, regardless of whether they are sealed with a brown seal and/or a red seal.

An 1869 U.S. Note is the note with the highest value. It is usually worth $500 to $1,200 if it is circulated, and up to $3,800 if it is not.

The print is not as common but $2 bills are still being produced (160,000,000 entered circulation in 2019) which count as legal tender. You can even pick them up at a bank, though it’ll likely only feature the design that took to the presses in 1976.

Because they’re still circulating, most $2 bills are worth exactly that – $2. Any $2 bill dating back to 1976 that has been in circulation – and any uncirculated versions since 2003 – are worth only their face value, USCA says. The estimated value of uncirculated bills from 1976 to 2003 is between $2.25 and $500.

As Professional Coin Grading Services explains, if your $2 bill is relatively recent and “has no special markings, errors, or other oddities,” it likely isn’t worth much more than its intended value.