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Auction house flooded with calls after news of two-dollar bill sold for thousands goes viral

Heritage Auctions officials have some bad news-- not everyone will hit the jackpot when they pull out those old $2 bills you probably got from your grandma.

DALLAS, Texas — Thomas Jefferson is usually known as a founding father, author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States. He rarely gets any press for being on the two-dollar bill. 

But last week, his face got a lot of it after Heritage Auctions sold a $2 note from 2003 with a low serial number for $2,400, which was later resold for $4,000. 

Type "$2 bill" into a search engine and dozens of articles pop up. And they're all similarly titled, such as "A $2 bill lying around your house could be worth thousands." 

Versión en Español: Llovieron llamadas a Heritage Auctions luego de que la noticia de que un billete de $2 tuviera un valor de miles se hiciera viral

Raiden Honaker, who got his name from the Mortal Kombat character of the same name, quickly went from a consignment director for Heritage Auctions to a call center operator. Honaker focuses on numismatics -- the study or collection of currency. 

"It blew up across the country," Honaker said. "It was cool to see the interest in numismatics. People started digging out those $2 bills to see if they hit the jackpot."

WFAA's newsroom also fielded many calls from viewers after posting a story to our website. So, there's a vested and shared interest in writing this to help folks with some crisp two-dollar bills lying around. 

The sad news is, Honaker says they're probably worth face value only. 

"Out of all the $2 notes that are issued, probably 99% of them are worth face value," Honaker said. "Over the past five years, more than 100 million two-dollar notes have been printed. So, beyond common." 

Honaker did say you're in luck if you have a bill with a low serial number, something collectors like. He showed WFAA a $2 bill with the serial number 2 that would fetch potentially $5,000.

Credit: Matt Howerton
Photo of a $2 bill worth $5k due to a low serial number.

The condition of the bill also matters greatly. The more pristine--the more it's worth. 

Honaker said if the bill has a dramatic error to it--it's also worth more. He showed WFAA a $2 bill with its seal and serial numbers printed twice. 

Credit: Matt Howerton
A photo of a double-printed $2 bill that is worth $20k.

He said it was worth around $20,000. The most rare two-dollar bill Heritage Auctions has ever sold was a replacement $2 note from 1928, which sold for $88,000 in 2013. 

A replacement note usually contains an error, and the serial number range must be reprinted. A star next to the serial number signifies that the number was replaced. 

Bottom line: Heritage Auctions would love to sell your rare cash -- but it needs to fit the part. 

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