2 Dollars Federal Reserve Note

The $2 note has been in continuous production since the 1976 bicentennial series launched it as a redesigned denomination — yet it has never circulated freely, largely because the public treats it as a curiosity rather than spending it. Banks rarely stock them, retailers reject them out of unfamiliarity, and vending machines historically weren't calibrated for them. The result is a note that the BEP prints in far smaller runs than any other denomination; the 2003A series, for instance, had a production run dwarfed by every other current Federal Reserve Note issued that year.

The denomination itself was discontinued in 1966 before being revived a decade later. Collectibility has created a self-defeating cycle: the more people save them, the lower the effective supply in circulation, which reinforces saving behavior.