Category Archives: collecting paper Money

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The Bicentennial $2 Bill – First of a Kind

 

A pack of 1976 $2 Bills.
A pack of 1976 $2 Bills.

In the mid-1970s, various patriotic and numismatic items were released as the United States marked the bicentennial of its independence from Great Britain, one of the most significant of which was a new $2 bill: the Series 1976 $2 Federal Reserve Note. Sporting a design on the back that appears on the denomination to the present day, the Series 1976 was the first to bear that design and is generally accessible and affordable to paper money collectors.

History of the Bicentennial $2 Bill

Numerous numismatic products were issued marking the Bicentennial. A series of medals struck by the United States Mint was released beginning in 1972. In 1973, President Richard M. Nixon signed a bill authorizing commemorative designs on the quarter, the half dollar, and the dollar coin, along with a double date on those denominations struck in 1975 and 1976. And while it is getting harder, Bicentennial coinage can still be found in circulation today.

Another numismatic item commemorating the Bicentennial,though not as frequently found in circulation, the Series 1976 $2 FRN was approved in late 1975.

On November 3, 1975, Treasury Secretary William E. Simon announced that, in recognition of the United States Bicentennial, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) would produce $2 Federal Reserve Notes, the first of their kind.

 

New for the 1976 $2 bill was an engraving depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
New for the 1976 $2 bill was an engraving depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Though the new design for the $2 denomination was inspired by the Bicentennial, the Series 1976 $2 FRN was not a commemorative issue. The New York Times made explicit the connection between the new $2 bills and the Bicentennial in its November 9, 1975 coverage:

“[T]he bill is not a ‘special’ Bicentennial‐year issue; it will continue on as a permanent part of the nation’s circulating paper currency.”

The new notes were the first FRNs of the denomination; the last $2 notes issued, in the 1960s, were Legal Tender Notes with a red Treasury Seal and serial numbers. $2 Legal Tender Notes, National Bank Notes, Silver Certificates, Treasury Notes, and Federal Reserve Bank Notes had all been issued since the 1860s.

The face design remained largely unchanged, except the Treasury Seal and serial numbers, which on the $2 FRN is green.

The back design changed completely, with Thomas Jefferson’s mansion Monticello replaced by a depiction of John Trumbull’s painting entitled Declaration of Independence (1817). It was executed for the notes by Peter Cocci, a BEP staffer. The Bicentennial issue was not the first outing of Trumbull’s painting on U.S. paper money, of course; it first appeared on the back of $100 National Bank Notes in 1863, the year after the first federal $2 notes were introduced. The denomination appears in numerals in each corner, with scrolls featuring the written denomination flanking the bottom two numbers; the written denomination also appears vertically on either side of the Trumbull vignette.

Trumbull’s painting also appeared on one of the series of commemorative stamps issued for the Bicentennial, split into four sections; each of the four stamps in the series bore a quarter of the painting.

A total of 590,720,000 Series 1976 Bicentennial $2 bills were printed and the production run ended in 1978. All of the notes produced bear the signatures of Treasury Secretary Simon and Treasurer Francine Irving Neff.

The scarcest Star note for the series is the Friedberg-1935-J*. The issue’s Minneapolis Star notes are comparably rare.

The notes were released on April 13, 1976, Thomas Jefferson’s birthday.

Collectability of the Series 1976 $2 Note

 

Series of 1976 $2 Bill Replacement note.
Series of 1976 $2 Bill Replacement note.

Some observers were hopeful that the $2 denomination would be accepted in commerce, possibly reducing demand for $1 FRNs. An April 11, 1976, New York Times article claimed that:

“The new $2 note is expected to replace about one‐half of the $1 bills in circulation over the next several years. This will result in an estimated saving of $4 million to $7 million per year in printing costs.”

Nevertheless, the notes did not circulate widely, whatever the hopes of their proponents. The denomination is so uncommon in some areas that people have been arrested for trying to spend $2 notes at retail establishments. Yet the vast majority of Series 1976 $2 bills are abundant and affordable.

An interesting notaphilic and philatelic product was created around the Series 1976 $2 Federal Reserve Note release. Many people took the bills to post offices on the release day, affixed stamps directly to the notes, and had the stamps canceled at their local post office. Numerous series of commemorative stamps were issued marking the bicentennial, which made for thematically fitting note-stamp pairings. The stamped notes are not worth much beyond their face value, but a collector might seek out a note from their hometown or another location of personal significance.

Art Friedberg, the co-author of Paper Money of the United States (21st Ed., 2017), shares that the stamped Series 1976 $2 FRN sold briskly around the time of the Bicentennial.

“It was different, it was collectible, people loved it. We made a lot of money,” Friedberg explained in a phone interview.


Unusual fold error. PMG 64 EPQ. Image: Stack’s Bowers. Price Realized: $2,040.

Robert Azpiazu, owner of First City Coins and Collectibles and author of Collector’s Guide to Modern Federal Reserve Notes Series 1963-2009 (2011), elaborates on the stamped notes’ appeal in an email interview:

“There are some cancellations that are very valuable but only to a small group of eclectic collectors.”

Series 1976 Bicentennial $2 bills appear in a number of U.S. Mint products, including the 1994 Thomas Jefferson 250th Anniversary Coinage and Currency set, notable for its Satin Finish Jefferson nickel.

At the time of writing, Paper Money Guaranty (PMG) reports 18,462 total grading events for Series 1976 Bicentennial $2 bills from all 12 Federal Reserve banks; 5,538 of those are Star notes.

Circulated examples of Series 1976 $2 FRNs can be bought for around face value or occasionally found in circulation. Uncirculated examples can bring a dollar or two over face.


Serial Number 1 note. Sold by Heritage Auctions for $21,150.

Rarer Star notes naturally command higher premiums, as do notes at the highest end of the condition scale or those with collectable serial numbers. F-1935-L with serial number 1 sold with its brick label in a Heritage auction on January 8, 2016, for $21,150 USD.

Issued in massive numbers with a design commemorating the U.S. Bicentennial, Series 1976 $2 Federal Reserve Notes are affordable and abundant, notable as the first $2 FRNs and for the numerous stamped specimens available for a little over their face value.

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BEP Resumes Sales of Paper Money Collectibles to Public

By CoinWeek News Staff ….   As of October 1, 2023, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is once again offering numismatic products for sale to the general public. According to an announcement on the BEP website, the reintroduction of these products will occur in phases, with stocks of Uncut Currency Sheets being replenished […]

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2023 Edition of Early Paper Money of America Now Available From Publishers of Greysheet

CDN Publishing is announcing the publication of the 2023 Edition of Early Paper Money of America, the seminal reference book on the first circulating currencies of North America. Authored by the renowned scholar, numismatist, and collector Eric P. Newman, this is the first new edition since 2008. At 472 pages, this edition features hundreds of […]

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United States Series 1935A Hawaii Overprint Notes

In the wake of the Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States command was faced with the prospect of a full-scale military invasion of the Hawaiian Islands. While it was determined after the war that in 1941 and early 1942, the Japanese armed forces had no real intention of […]

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Hyperinflation: Five Banknotes That Signaled Economic Catastrophe

By Tyler Rossi for CoinWeek ….. What is inflation? Basically, inflation is the rate, usually measured yearly, at which prices increase. When controlled by financial institutions and kept below 2% annually, inflation can actually help increase consumer demand and drive economic growth. However, if inflation starts to increase rapidly, money becomes worth significantly less. Central […]

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Get Ready for the 2020 PMG Registry Awards

Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®) is excited for the 2020 PMG Registry Awards, and we hope you are too! The PMG Registry is a free online platform where collectors register and display their PMG-certified notes and compete against other collectors around the world for recognition and prizes. This popular resource now boasts more than 13,500 sets […]

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The Stories Are Free: 10 Story Coins and Notes You Can Buy Cheap

By David Schwager for CoinWeek ….. Stories sell. Any collector knows that a good story adds to an item’s value. The stories themselves, however, cost nothing. Here are 10 story coins and notes you can buy for very little. Inflation Notes A US $1,000 bill is impressive, but why stop at a mere 1,000 units? […]

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World Paper Money – Hidden Messages in Propaganda Notes of Japanese-Occupied China

Chinese banknotes insulted the Japanese enemy and instilled hope in an occupied people By Paper Money Guaranty (PMG) ……   While many American historians cite the start of World War II as the invasion of Poland in 1939, scholars of Asian history often state that the war had, in fact, begun two years earlier, following […]

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Whitman Releases New 7th Edition of Kenneth Bressett’s Guide Book of United States Currency

Whitman Publishing has released the new seventh edition of the Guide Book of United States Currency, a guide to American paper money by Kenneth Bressett, former president of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) and longtime senior editor of the Guide Book of United States Coins. The full-color, 352-page softcover book is available online (including at […]

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US Paper Money & Scrip – Military Payment Certificates

MPCs are growing in popularity and can offer the new collector an easy and fun way to learn about numismatics US large & small size currency, Confederate notes and fractional currency are all common items that many people collect. There is, however, a small niche in the numismatic collecting community that is growing: Military Payment […]

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Grading Paper Money – 2016 PMG Registry Award Winners

The results of the seventh annual PMG Registry Awards are in! Each year Paper Money Guaranty (PMG) recognizes outstanding achievement in Registry set building. As the PMG Registry grows to include sets of all sizes from around the world, this becomes a more difficult task than in previous years. We applaud all the PMG Registry […]

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Paper Money News – The 2016 PMG Registry Awards

Participation is free for the PMG Registry Awards. Sets have to be registered by 5 p.m. EST on September 16, 2016 to be eligible for this year’s awards. Winners will be announced October 14! Awards will be presented to five outstanding PMG Registry awards sets selected by a team of experts at Paper Money Guaranty […]

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Paper Money Guaranty Grades 1,000,000 Notes

  Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®) has announced that it has graded its 1 millionth note. It is the first third-party paper money grading service to reach this important industry milestone. This accomplishment comes as PMG celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Founded in 2005, PMG has grown to become the world’s largest independent paper money […]

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