$2 bills could be worth thousands but all depends on condition, rarity

Could that odd $2 bill your grandfather gave you be worth more than two bucks?

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Potentially, but it all depends on when it was printed and the condition it is in.

The idea that a single bill could net its owner thousands of dollars has been floating around the internet for months but recently went viral this week as people look for treasure in their wallets.

The U.S. Currency Auctions guide says that bills can range from their face value of $2 to $4,500 for 1890 Treasury Notes that have either a red or brown seal and have never been circulated. If you have the same treasury note that has been circulated, the value is slashed by about half to $2,500 if the currency is in extremely fine condition. A bill that is rated fine for the same year could fetch $550 if the right buyer is found.

Previous stories by WFLA and Fox Business from February reported similar values.

Other variables that will determine the value of the bill include having a low serial number. USA Today reported that a $2 bill printed in 2003 sold at auction for $2,400 because of the low serial number for that series, according to Heritage Auctions. The same bill was resold for $4,000 and if sold again could fetch about $6,000.

Heritage Auctions has one $2 bill from 1869 that will go up for sale in a few weeks. A similar one sold for $12,000 at the auction house.

The $2 bill isn’t used much. The Treasury tried to promote the bill, but it was a failure. The government had stopped issuing new ones for a few years, but it was reintroduced in 1976 for the country’s bicentennial, USA Today reported.

The latest versions have Thomas Jefferson on the front and a portrait of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the back.

There were about 1.5 billion $2 bills in circulation in 2022, according to the Federal Reserve.

The U.S. Currency Auctions guide is a compilation of values for several amounts of U.S. currency, including $1, $20 and even a $10,000 note.