Did $2 Notes Circulate More In The Past?

Two dollar notes were a staple in the early to mid 20th century and a favorite for betting at parimutuel establishments.

datadragon, Thanks for the Effort and Information........

The main problem that $2 notes in America had was stigma.

Some time in the late 19th or early 20th century, a superstition arose - don't know how, where, or when, just one of those silly superstition things - that receiving a $2 note was "unlucky". Further, the superstition required that to break the bad luck curse, you needed to tear the corners off the $2 note before you spent it.

This of course, rendered the note unsuitable for re-issue by the bank that ended up receiving it in deposit. Which in turn meant that banks tended not to want to issue them, knowing that some darn fool would just go and tear the corners off them and they'd have to order in a new batch. The superstition no doubt inflated the actual demand for $2 notes, because they had to keep printing replacements.

This seems to be the main reason why issue of $2 notes was never as strong in America as it was in, say, Canada, where an otherwise identical currency system was in use. $2 notes were heavily used in Canada, right up until they were replaced with a circulating $2 coin, the "twoonie", which remains in common everyday use in Canada. Needless to say, the "bad luck" superstition never seemed to have crossed the border.

I'd also heard that $2 bills were commonly given by corrupt politicians when they wanted to 'buy' votes...

In 1990 I was working as a tour manager and was escorting a group of American tourists on a bus tour of Europe. I often had to exchange small sums of money from dollars into local currency for them so they could buy souvenirs, postcards and snacks. I remember one very elderly American lady from St Louis (she must have been in her mid-eighties at least) opening her wallet and I noticed a red seal $2 bill inside. I asked her why she kept it, and she told me she always kept a $2 bill in her wallet 'for luck'.

Strangely, as a tour guide I do sometimes get $2 bills given to me as tips nowadays by US tourists!

I snagged a pair of Tiger Twos when Clemson faced Alabama in the Championship Game held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa several years back.

My father left me his small collection, mostly coins but this was the only bill:

...and with a corner missing, I see.

Very interesting thread. I have always kept $2 bills I've gotten just because they're rarely seen in the wild.