Many Louisiana residents seek to turn two dollars into more almost every day. Some of us plunk down two dollars on a lottery ticket. While others might use their two dollars at Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, or even Louisiana Downs in Bossier City to pick a winning horse in the races they have at those locales.

Holbrook Multi Media Inc via YouTube
Holbrook Multi Media Inc via YouTube
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However, this is a story about a different two dollars. The two dollars in question is the $2 bill. The $2 note was in circulation in the United States from 1862 to 1966 when it was discontinued. Then as part of the nation's bicentennial celebration, the two-dollar note with Thomas Jefferson on the front was reintroduced in 1976.

The two-dollar bill of 1976 is the one I remember. As kids, we got them as Christmas Gifts and in birthday cards with a note reminding us to "hang on to them, they might be valuable one day". Well, one day has arrived and some of those much-maligned and seldom-used two-dollar bills are worth quite a bit of cash. If you happened to have the right ones.

According to the Federal Reserve, about 1.4 billion of the bills remain in circulation so it's not like they are uncommon but some of the bills do have an uncommon mark that makes them very attractive for those who collect coins and money as a hobby.

The first thing you'll want to look for on any $2 note that you might happen to have is a red seal. Now if you happen to have a two-dollar bill with a red seal that was printed in 1890 and that bill is uncirculated its value jumps from two bucks to about $4,500 depending on what collectors are willing to pay at auction.

There are other bills with the red seal that were minted in other years that are also worth a nice chunk of change. Some collectors value those anywhere from $300 to $2,500. And if you have some of those much older bills with a brown or blue seal you could be holding on to a valuable item as well.

Now, since most of us don't have money from the late 1800s hanging around our homes some of the more recently minted or printed bills could be worth much more than two dollars too. The bills most in demand by collectors are the ones that were printed in 1995 or in the year 2003. Some of those have been bringing prices of $500 to $700 at auction.

Of course, the condition of the bill and whether or not it is uncirculated or in mint condition will play a huge role in how valuable they are to those who collect them. Granted, most of the $2 bills you'll come across are worth just two bucks, it could behoove you to look into that memory box from your childhood and see. You just might have scored more cash than any horse I ever bet on did for two bucks. Good luck and happy hunting.

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Gallery Credit: Bruce Mikells

 

 

 

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