A $2 bill from 2003 with a very low serial number recently sold at a Texas auction for $2,400. It was later resold for $4,000.
Houston Chronicle Archives
Saving up those $2 bills your grandma gave you might actually pay off. Per Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, the third largest auction house in the world, a $2 bill since 2003 with a very low serial number recently sold at an auction for $2,400. The bill was later resold for $4,000.
Raiden Honaker with Heritage Auctions told Dallas TV station WFAA that the auction house was flooded with calls after people learned about the recent $2 bill sale. Unfortunately, Honaker explained that out of all the $2 notes issued, most of them are worth face value only. “Over the past five years, more than 100 million two-dollar notes have been printed,” WFAA told. “So, beyond common.”
However, if you happen to own a bill with a low serial number, which collectors prefer, Honaker said you may be in luck. I have noted a $2 bill with the serial number 2 that could potentially sell for $5,000. Bills in pristine condition, or those with a dramatic error, are also worth more, Honaker added. He pointed to a $2 bill with its seal and serial numbers printed twice that is worth around $20,000.
The auction site US Currency Auctions estimates that uncirculated $2 bills from nearly every year up to 1917 are worth at least $1,000. Two-dollar bills with a red seal can sell anywhere between $3 to $2,500, while bills with brown or blue seals can sell for hundreds of dollars.
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Per the US Currency Education Program, there were 1.2 billion $2 bills in circulation, with a face value of $2.4 billion, as of 2017. For most of their history, $2 bills have been unpopular, being viewed as unlucky or awkward to use in cash exchanges, according to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Two-dollar notes were often returned to the Treasury with corners torn off, making them mutilated currency and unfit for reissue.
