Two-dollar bill
A two-dollar bill is perfectly legal and still printed, yet most people treat one as a curiosity and tuck it away. That habit keeps the bill rare, which says something about the things people save for a day that never comes.
What it may mean
The two-dollar bill is caught in a loop. Because it is unusual, people who receive one keep it in a drawer or a wallet pocket instead of spending it. Because they keep it, fewer circulate, and so it stays unusual. A note designed for buying groceries ends up as a keepsake. Many good things in a home share that fate: the fancy dishes saved for guests who never come, the perfume kept for an occasion, the nice notebook too good to write in. Saving something special has its own pleasure, and some things are best kept. Still, when a two-dollar bill turns up in your change, check what you have been saving so long that it has stopped doing its job.
Depending on how you saw it
Getting one as change
Cashiers sometimes hold a two-dollar bill up to the light, unsure it is real, though it is legal tender like any other note. The unfamiliar can look suspicious. Which perfectly ordinary thing about you has someone treated as odd because they had not seen it before?
A bill with a corner torn off
Older two-dollar bills sometimes turn up with a corner missing, from a custom of tearing it off to cancel the note's supposed ill fortune. Brand noted that "deuce" was an old popular name for the devil. Which small ritual do you use to make an uneasy feeling go away?
One kept from a grandparent
Many families have a two-dollar bill handed down from a grandparent who liked giving them as treats. Its value now lies in the memory. Which small, cheap gift from a grandparent or great-aunt do you treasure most?
Turning it over
Since 1976 the back of the bill has shown John Trumbull's painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, while Thomas Jefferson appears on the front. Most people never look closely. What everyday object near you carries a story you have never stopped to read?
Why it happens in nature
The two-dollar bill is legal tender and is still printed from time to time, but banks and stores rarely hand it out, so few people see one. Many who receive it keep it as a curiosity, which keeps even fewer in circulation. The current design dates from 1976, with Thomas Jefferson on the front and a version of Trumbull's Declaration painting on the back.
To reflect on
What are you saving for a special day that might be better used now?