United States two-dollar bill

The United States two-dollar bill (US$2) is a current denomination of United States currency. A portrait of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States (1801–1809), is featured on the obverse of the note. The reverse features an engraving of John Trumbull's painting Declaration of Independence (c. 1818). Throughout the $2 bill's pre-1929 life as a large-sized note, it was issued as a United States Note, a National Bank Note, a Silver Certificate, a Treasury or "Coin" Note, and a Federal Reserve Bank Note. In 1928, when U.S. currency was redesigned and reduced to its current size, the $2 bill was issued only as a United States Note. Production continued until 1966 (1967), when United States Notes were phased out; the $2 denomination was discontinued until 1976, when it was reissued as a Federal Reserve Note, with a new reverse design. The obverse design of the $2 bill is the oldest of all current US currency. Because of businesses' banking policies that do not rely on $2 bills, fewer are produced and therefore they circulate much less than other denominations of U.S. currency. This scarcity in circulation has contributed to low public awareness that the bill is still being printed and has inspired urban legends and misinformation about $2 bills and has occasionally caused difficulties for persons trying to spend them. Some merchants are unfamiliar with $2 bills and question their validity or authenticity. In spite of its relatively low production figures, the apparent scarcity of the $2 bill in daily commerce also indicates that significant numbers of the notes are removed from circulation and collected by many people who believe $2 bills to be scarcer and more valuable than they actually are.