What two dollar bills are worth money? How to check, age and condition factors, and all you need to know

Two dollar bills from nearly every year up to 1917 from 1862 are worth at least $1000, and bills from 1890 can be traded for up to $4,500, as estimated by the U.S. Currency Auctions on their official website.

The auction site reported that collectors offer these rates based on a few factors, including the bill's printing method, color of certain codes, and location. $2 bills featuring red seals can be sold for $300-$2,500, and the ones with blue or brown seals can get up to a few hundred.

Apart from the bills from the 1800s and the 1900s, newer two dollar bills printed in 2003 are also eligible for auction. A $2 bill from 2003 was recently sold for $2,400 through Heritage Auctions, the world’s largest auction house that deals with currency.

This particular bill came with a very low serial number printed on it. The bill was later sold again for $4,000. Heritage estimated bill collectors can now purchase the bill for $6,000.

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How to check if a two dollar bill is eligible for auction?

If an individual wants to check whether their $2 bills are eligible for auctions or check the bill's value, they must look at the seal color and the year on the bill. The U.S. Currency Auctions bases the value of these bills on past and recent paper currency auctions.

According to the website, a set of a dozen $2 notes from 1995, organized in their original packaging and serial numbers, are worth $500 or more. One can check the value of their bills by visiting the U.S. Currency Auctions’ price guide at uscurrencyauctions.com.

Art Pinto, Florida’s Legacy Coins and Curiosities manager, said that a number of elements contribute to the factors that can help indicate how much a $2 bill can be worth. Newer bills come with green seals and are less likely to be sold for a significant amount. But bills with older print dates and red seals are generally worth more. Pinto told FOX 13:

“If you’re looking for a high dollar $2 bill, it would be pre-1900, and it would have to be in a very high condition graded condition.”

Vice President of Heritage Auctions, Dustin Johnston, said that the people of the USA don’t spend two dollar bills due to the notion that these notes are scarce.

“However, the numbers tell us a different story. Just in the last five years, they’ve printed 100 million $2 bills. The fact that they don’t circulate and are kept as mementos is a little bit odd. Very few of them have numismatic or collector value,” he added.

Dustin continued that the serial number printed on the upper right side and the bottom left side of the front of the notes are a huge factor in determining a two dollar bill’s value. These two numbers are typically succeeded by a letter.

“A serial number ‘1’ for a 1976 $2 bill would be worth $20,000 or more. But [for] a majority of those people holding 1976 $2 bills, they are only worth face value. There are very few that actually exceed face value,” he explained.

Heritage Auctions is offering free online appraisals where inquiries about the value of a two dollar bill or other auctionable banknote are shared.