The elusive $2 bill

I got a couple of $2 bills the other day. Rather rare to get these in the U.S. because even though the Federal Reserve claims there are at least 500 million in circulation, most people who receive them tend to hoard them, thinking they're "worth something", and they are, each $2 bill is worth $2. Wow!

I've had a few pass through my hands in the years that I've been here, but I was planning to give these two to the kids until I noticed someone had used a Where's George.com stamp on them, which was rather annoying. Until I discovered that some members of the Where's George crew are actually trying to increase the number of actively circulated $2 bills (something of which I approve) by specifically requesting them from their banks, even going so far as to order them by the Strap (100 notes) or Brick (1,000 notes). Then they stamp them with the Where's George stamp which, in most people's eyes, renders them worthless as collectibles and practically forces future recipients to spend them rather than hoard them.

I was also made aware of a flawed observation of mine that U.S. cash register drawers are not set up to cater to the $2 bill when in fact they are, the drawers are just misused. Because the $2 is rarely seen most cashiers place their $20, $10, & $5 bills in the slot to the right of their intended slot, with the $5 bill occupying the slot meant for the $2 bills. This leaves an empty slot on the left which is then used for checks and coin rolls, or $50 bills which are more commonly used than the $2. I'm not sure how cashiers would handle the change and their register drawers if they began encountering $2 bills on a regular basis.

Actually that's a project (if you live in the States) that you could take on yourself, if you've got a bit of a rebellious streak in you ;) If you frequently purchase your lunch or make some other small, everyday transaction like buying your morning cup of coffee, you could order a Strap of $2 bills from your bank and use them to buy your lunch or coffee instead.

It could even be rather chaotic, initially. Imagine going to Quizno's or Subway where you place your order, they make your sandwich, and then you offer to pay for it...with $2 bills. Most cashiers should be familiar with the $2, but you just might run into someone who hasn't seen them before, and they just might be accompanied by a pimply-faced, squeaky-voiced Shift Manager who also has never seen a $2 bill. And because you're in Quizno's or Subway's your sandwich is already sitting in front of you, so you just need to pay for it. You have your Debit Card on you but they can't force you to use that. In fact you're willing to pay for your lunch, just with disturbingly new, sequentially numbered $2 bills, so the Cashier and Shift Manager have a few choices: they can grudgingly accept the notes (unlikely if they think they're fake); they can ask you for a different method of payment, a request you'll refuse so they'll ask you to leave (possible); they can give you your sandwich for free (doubtful...just yet).

The Shift Manager could also call the cops, but if they do that Store Policy will also require them to call the Store Manager or Regional Manager to report that they've called the cops. When they do that they'll inform the Store Manager or Regional Manager that they've called the cops on a customer who was attempting to pay for his or her meal with several $2 bills, and then they'll get strangely quiet, and go very red, and after they hang up they'll be very apologetic and now there's a chance you'll get today's lunch for free, maybe with chips and a soda thrown in.

The cafeteria at my office is like that. I order the food, the cooks make my food, I take my food to the cashier and pay for it. I could imagine them looking at me funny if I suddenly produce three $2 bills to pay for my lunch, although with the number of customers they serve each day I'd be surprised if they're not familiar with this "rare" bill.

Now when other customers see you using "rare" $2 bills they might think you're crazy to spend them, or even try to buy them from you. Whatever you do, don't sell them for less than $2 each :D But definitely let anyone who asks know that they, too, can order them by the Strap from their bank, especially if they want sequentially numbered bills. They might just do that in order to get uncirculated bills, and then they'll have 100 $2 bills of which they only want to save, at most, $20 worth. You've just recruited them to the cause, because now they'll spend the other $180, and that will get people talking to them about the $2 bill.

It's Fight Club's "Project Mayhem", only a more civilized, less destructive version ;)