The United States $2 Bill is one of the smallest denominations of U.S. Paper Money. The obverse has the oldest design of any current U.S. currency and was adopted in 1929. This is a picture of the third U.S. President, Thomas Jefferson. On the reverse of the bill, the second oldest design adopted in 1976, is the painting, The Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull.

The first year that the United States $2 Bill was printed was 1862 as a Large Size Legal Tender Note. It originally had a portrait of Alexander Hamilton and then was later redesigned in 1869 with Thomas Jefferson’s picture. In 1886, the $2 Silver Certificate was issued and it had a portrait of U.S. Civil War General Winfred Scott Hancock. Over the years, the $2 Silver Certificate was redesigned and issued out. One of the most famous was the “Educational Series” Silver Certificate in 1896.

In 1929, all U.S. currency was changed to its smaller, current size and the $2 bill was kept as United States Note also known as a Legal Tender Note. The obverse had Thomas Jefferson on it and on the reverse was his home, the Monticello. On this note, the seal and serial number were both red. The $2 bills were officially discontinued in August 1966 after being changed in 1953 and 1963.

The $2 bill was redesigned and reissued as a Federal Reserve Note for the United States’ Bicentennial in 1976 ($2.00 = 200 cents). This is the same design that the current $2 bills have today.

Today, $2 bills are rarely found in circulation but are considered collectible. Collectible $2 bills include large size notes, red seal small-sized $2 Federal Reserve Notes , $2 Federal Reserve notes not put into circulation, and notes in Series 1976 $2 bills with canceled stamps.