Would it worth my time to get some $2 bills? Is there something good to look for? a banker asked me if I want those $2 bills when I've got the halves
I often get $2's at my bank mostly to spread into circulation. It's fun to see the different reactions to them. Not very many turn into keepers, though.
I go through straps of twos regularly. I put together district sets of like grades, consecutives, keep the stars and any errors if I'd be lucky enough to find. People like twos and the stars can get you a nice premium. I do agree with Rick that not many turn out to be keepers. I also like the reaction when you have a knot of them in your hand as your paying for something. I am commonly asked "Why do you have so many?"
You can have some nice finds with twos. Last month at a bank I found a 1953 $2 Red Seal along with quite a few AU/CU 1976s including a pretty nice star. Complete Mint CU 1976 $2 district sets appear to sell for good money. If you can assemble some quality sets from finding notes in circulation you can potentially make some decent money.
If you want to confuse cashiers and get a reaction from people or simply enjoy spending them then by all means go ahead and do that. I have spent many twos in the past. This is the "paper money" collecting forum though so obviously I and others are going to be more interested in them on a numismatic/collector level than to just buy and spend them.
Right, then in my limited experience, nothing more than random crispy 1976s. I just spend them without reaction, most of the time.
From a collector perspective, the best way to get 'valuable' serial numbers or straps of star notes is to buy and spend them by the bundle. I go through 2000 Twos a week and a few times a year I get interesting serial numbers that I can sell to other collectors - things like RADAR notes or the Odometer-rollover bundles/straps that have 2 star notes replacing the last two notes where the numbering wheels roll-over each 10,000. And when a series change occurs, the new series arrives and i always end up getting some bundles with full star note straps in them. So, spend as many as you wish for fun and if you really want to find something interesting, you might have to spend a lot of them to suck the local supply pipeline dry so that they have to order a fresh supply.
I wonder how many people will try to get the redesigned $2 bills when they come out in post-2013. I know I will be after straps of them. Also, Fred, you go through 2,000 $2 bills a week?! Thats $4,000. What do the cashiers have to say about that? And how do you carry all of those $2s? I believe you also said you go through $2,000 worth of dollar coins, right? And hey, even though you believe halves will never circulate in large numbers again, do you still take those from banks and spend them, if they have them?
I don't get why so many people are surprised when the banks have $2's. I have probably never been to a bank thank didn't have any $2's...... In my strap searching of $2's, I have always found something. Whether is was 4 CHCU 1995 $2's with one being a radar, a 1976 $2 L*, 2 2003 I*'s, and 2 AU 1976 HA's with one being an error
I go through straps like tbud does on occasion. My bank always have them. And you never know. Personally, I usually find a red seal $2 out of every 200 bills I search. So it's not a complete lost cause. And crisp I9 notes go for about double face!
