When you look at the picture above, you may see some unfamiliar US currency. You’re looking at a modern $2.00 bill and some coins of the realm. On the far left is a Quarter, good for twenty-five cents. The next three coins are Dollars, good for one US dollar each. The larger coin on the far right is a Half Dollar, good for fifty cents.    The US Mint stopped printing the $2 bill in 2017, but there are 1.4 billion (1,400,000,000) of them in circulation right now. As plentiful as they are, every time I whip one out at any cashier, or hand one to a server in a restaurant, I get the amazed look, and the same line. “Wow! I haven’t seen one of those (lately or never).” I usually explain that they’re plentiful and can be grabbed up at most banks or credit unions anytime they may want some. They often tell me they plan to exchange it for a couple of ones from their own stash and take it home to collect or give to their kids.     The coins are a different story. Over the years (a couple of hundred), the US has struggled with how to distribute them and convince people of the value of using the right denomination coins. Did you know that there have been half-penny, two-penny, and three-penny US coins? Imagine that, eh?    

The picture above is mainly there to show a difference in the Dollar coins you may run across. The larger ones on the left are the Morgan Dollar, minted from 1878, and the Eisenhower Dollar, minted from 1971-1978. They were of a substantial size, and you knew you had a buck in your hand when you took hold of one. The golden-colored coin in the middle is also a dollar coin, but its pathetically small size allowed it to be mistaken for a quarter so often that people refused to use it. On the far right is one of my favorites, the Kennedy Half-Dollar. These fifty-cent pieces are still in production and circulation, but whenever I ask for them at the bank I get a vacant stare instead of coins.    The Canadian two-dollar bill is here just to show how much fun money can be. Just look at the colors on that sucker. My picture doesn’t do it justice, but if you go to Canada, you’ll see plenty of them, as Canadians appreciate the usefulness of having a currency that relieves one of carrying a wad of ones around.

    The two-dollar bill pictured above is included for a “blast from the past” moment. On April 13th, 1976, I joined the line at my local Post Office to get some uncirculated, crisp, first-day released two-dollar bills stamped and postmarked. The word was out that if verified as being first-day-of-release bills they’d be collectable. I have five so stamped and preserved in their original condition. I just checked their value. An uncirculated bill from that date is worth $9-$15, with postmarked ones worth a bit more. I see that someone on eBay is selling some for $28.50 each, plus shipping. So fifty-seven years of collecting these notes has made me very few bucks, but they’ll be fun for my grandchildren to laugh about in years to come.     By the way, I also have some first-day-of-release Elvis postage stamps commemorating the passing of Elvis Presley. Selling for $.29 each, they were released on January 8th, 1993, which would’ve been The King’s fifty-eighth birthday. It would take more than two of them to send a letter today, but folks are selling them on eBay for about thirty bucks for a sheet of forty stamps. Amazon even has them for about the same price.  

  But, to get back to my thoughts on two-dollar bills and silver dollars. For me, they’re more convenient than having a pocket full of smaller denomination bills and coins. I think vending machines, which admittedly do now accept dollar bills, should accept both dollar coins and two-dollar bills. I believe that cash drawers should have an extra coin spot for both fifty-cent pieces and dollar coins. Lose the dollar bill space and use it for two-dollar bills. I think that making change, counting the till at the end of the shift, and even the bank deposits would go more smoothly.     It’s probably just me, but I don’t carry change and rarely have one-dollar bills on me. If you want a two-dollar bill, I likely have one or five of them on hand, however.
    What I’m pushing for is that after you read this, go out and get some two-dollar bills and some dollar and even some fifty-cent coins. Carry them, use them, and maybe by seeing you do it, others will see how convenient those denominations are and we might possibly start a trend.
    Happy spending, y’all!