I've been going to some local banks recently, politely relieving the tellers of their $2 bills (which they are more than happy to get rid of). I have a "pool" of banks that I regularly visit a few times per month (2 different banks, 4 branches each). I've found out from the tellers that they only receive $2 bills from either 1) customers who get them as payments at their businesses and then deposit the cash, or 2) other customers who cash them out for something "normal." So the banks don't get $2 bills from the regular armored car deliveries. Which made me believe all this time that I'd never receive a $2 bill older than 1976 from a bank. I figured anything older had already been removed from circulation (for being too old) and that no one would get rid of anything older than 1976. Until yesterday. While the teller was counting out the 17 $2 bills for me, I thought I saw a quick red blur in the middle of the pile. But figuring something like a red seal would never be in a bank, or the bank may have removed it from circulation, or something, I just chalked it up to my eyes were seeing things. But then last night when I was entering my "find" into my catalog, there it was, nice and crisp and IN MY HAND! It's my first red seal of any kind. I've been eyeing up a 1963 at my local coin shop, but now I have a 1953, saved from bank circulation. Thanks for looking/reading everyone. For this newbie to the hobby, it was a happy surprise.
Thank you. Yes, I was kind of surprised how "crisp" it is, and relatively undamaged and uncreased, given its age.
That's a pretty good find. When $2 red seals turn up at a bank they're usually either written on or have a corner missing. Regarding no one getting rid of older notes such as this, it happens all the time. I've heard of gold certificates, large size notes, etc. turning up in circulation. Liquor stores tend to be a common spending place for notes such as these. When this happens they're often sent in to a depository and shipped off to be destroyed, unfortunately.
Thanks. So who ships older notes in to be destroyed? The banks? Are they required to return older bills? Or maybe the State, since liquor stores here are run by the State. Hmmm.... Makes me want to add liquor stores to my list of places to check, or get on the "alert list" when a $2 bill shows up.
Generally speaking, I'd imagine it depends if the business relies on an armored car service to pick up and deliver cash or if they just make deposits at a local branch. Most bank tellers maintain a mute pile of cash they deem unfit for circulation. It's then shipped out to a regional federal reserve office wherein the final say is made there, typically with automated fitness machinery. Large size as well as $500 and higher notes are dealt with by hand. No, they're not required to even though tellers/management will often "freak out" and act like they are by pulling out special paperwork to deal with $500 and higher notes.
That's a pretty one. Rich color-retention, too. Get a nice holder for him. He took enough chances in circulation, he deserves to take it easy, now.
Thanks everyone. NOS: Thanks for the info. I've been wondering what happens to all of the "old" money.
Most likely someone from the bank made change and and just looked at the denomination and nothing else , i would not think it would make it through the normal channels before being removed from circulation either by the armored truck company or the bank it self.
So banks really don't get shipments of $2 bills? (then why even ship $1's at all.. lol) Don't get why that denomination gets so little attention.
I should clarify: banks can and do get shipments of $2 bills, but the bank has to order them specifically. And they'll send whatever they have in "current" stocks, you can't order a specific series (unfortunately). This time of year is popular for $2 bills being requested by customers from their banks, for Christmas gifts or to stick in cards, etc. I stopped by one bank this morning to ask for $2's, but they didn't have any left. Apparently, 'tis the season for $2's.
I do all,the cash ordering at the bank I work at, and we can order $2's in straps of $200, but you never know what you will get in the straps. I haven't found any older than 1976. We usually keep about $200 on hand at all times just for the few people who do like them. One of my employees likes to take them to Mexico because they are considered a novelty down there. Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
It depends on the bank too. The bank I worked at years ago included them in their normal order. The reason is we needed them. We had a client who owned a series of liquor stores (in Oregon liquor can only be bought in special stores) and he used them to make change. He said it was just easier due to the state mandated prices. He needed hundreds of dollars of them each month. So we always had a lot on hand.
