A blog by Jorge Garcia.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Question...

Where do Grandmas get all of those two-dollar bills from?

84 comments:

Phrank said...

I used to know a guy that would go to the local bank and specifically ask for $2 bills because he loved watching people's expression when he paid for things with them.

Brian Farrey said...

They poop them out.

You feed Grandmas petit fours and chicken noodle soup and out comes a $2 bill.

Acacia said...

From First Citywide ... the exact change bank on SNL.

Unknown said...

And the bills grandma sends are ALWAYS crispy.

Lisa-Maladylis said...

we get them because we think our kids will love them. That's what mom's and grandma's do. :-)

UPennBen said...

My dad loves to ask the bank for $2 bills. He really likes using them for tips, such as valet.

Unknown said...

There was a video store near my house that ONLY gave change in 2-dollar-bills, and Kennedy half-dollar coins...

Amy said...

We use them all the time where I work (as part of a marketing campaign). We get them right from the bank - either by special order, or they always have them at Christmas time. 99% of them are uncirculated cuz no one ever actually spends them. I know someone that tried to use a $2 in Mexico & they thought it was monopoly money LOL!

The Mom said...

I love getting $2 bills! You can go to the bank and request them. And they are always crispy because no one ever spends them! We hoard them, so they have to keep making new ones!

Chris said...

I go to the bank and ask for them sometimes. I love seeing people's reactions to them. Especially when they have no idea what they are or don't know where to put them in their cash drawer.

I also get a kick out of the people who receive them and then want to hold onto them because they think they'll be worth lots of money some day. Nope, they'll still just be worth $2.

Bobman said...

Reminds me of the fabled "Taco Bell $2 bill story"

http://www.snopes.com/business/money/tacobell.asp

Jez In Dallas said...

My grandma was a waitress and she got hers as tips, usually. She had a whole bunch of them framed because she thought it was bad luck to spend them!

Rob Timko said...

I always carry a 2$ bill around in my wallet/money clip/wad of rubber banded disorganized mess.

When it gets tattered, I trade it in at the bar for a crisper one. The bartender knows my gig. She's hip.

Irishcoda said...

They have them under their mattresses.

BubbaCoop said...

"Nope, they'll still just be worth $2."

Assuming they don't stop printing them. Most people believe they don't make them anymore, like Silver Certificates, which sell for significantly more than their face value.

Wiccababe said...

from under the mattress

Shannon said...

My grams would go to the bank and ask for them special. I think they have a full time person at banks to deal with Grammies. :-)

Eugen Caitaz said...

now,I am not in USA, I am in one of the european country - Moldova, but I also have some bills of $ 2, my sister was in America and bring me this special present.

AJK said...

I KNOW!!! They always have one to put in your birthday card

Lianne said...

It's like you read my mind. I think they come in Dentu Cream boxes as a prize, like in Cracker Jacks, or something.

Unknown said...

The one $2 bill I remember receiving as a kid wasn't from my grandma, but it was from my grandma's friend that we ran into at the thrift store...so kind of close!

Jennifer said...

My grandmother goes to the bank and requests them. A couple Christmases ago, she gave all the grandkids fifty $2 bills. Which we then took straight back to the bank lol

Petra said...

The real question is, how do I get a gramma who still WANTS to give me $2 bills!

: ) P

Steve said...

Disneyland also gives quite a bit of change in $2 bills at the ticket booths (although who uses cash anymore there at the prices they charge?)

aims said...

Here in Canada? :0)

Of course now it's a 'toonie'.

Vanalter said...

Maybe they get them from Steve Wozniak :)
http://www.woz.org/letters/general/78.html

Paul Spooner said...

I'll swap you a £3 note for your $2 bill...

Deborah Godin said...

I wish we still had ours here in Canada...they were pink! But now we have Loonies and Toonies, so it all works out I guess.

Bubblewench said...

They stash them in their furniture and pull them out for birthdays and holidays.

I know. I used to move furniture for a company that cleaned out houses of older people that have moved on in one way or another. We were ALWAYS finding them, taped to the bottom of recliners, end tables, between mattresses...

Tasha Who? said...

Around here, the only 2-dollar bills you come across made their way into people's pockets via the strip clubs.

Tricia said...

I know! My grandma would give one to all of us grandchildren every year for our birthday.

The Jen said...

I used to be in the marching band at Clemson. Before an away game or a bowl game, some of the boosters would trade in hundreds for $2, stamp them with an orange tiger paw, and then trade them with US and with fans for our money. The theory was that local merchants would see how much money we brought to their town. We would get bowl bids even if we didn't do well that season because they could see how much business we brought them.

KJ said...

Monticello, in Virginia. The admission fee is $18, so they can give a $2 in change to all those people who pay with twenties.

Guess why.

Tammy said...

Im no grandma, but I really want them-I've never heard of them. Sadly, I'm always excited to get the golden dollars from the Post office stamp machine-Im so sad :)

Lauren said...

I used to work in valet/bell services at a resort hotel and I remember having a guest there who would get a bunch of $2 bills from the bank right before his trip so he could have them as tips for the valets and bellmen.

MeekoRouse said...

a giftshop I worked at in Ketchikan, AK used them as change.. they said the cruiseship tourists would remember their time at the store with the $2.

I just kinda find them annoying.. Like Susan B's I like them but they are a hassle to spend.

Megan said...

Ask the bank.

You can also ask them for a stack of dollars ($20?) that haven't been separated. They come like a pad of paper... cardboard backing with red wax on the top. Grandma sent those for our birthday. If you want to freak out the cashiers, that's what you should get! When they see you tearing them off, they freak out... "Are those real?" Duh!

Andy McCullough said...

Ha! And grandpapas too. My boys always get a $2 from their Grandpapa. $2 bills and state quarters.

Derek Brink said...

It's illegal to scan images of money.

*finger-shake*

Tina said...

My grandma gave us $2 bills as well. Do we have the same grandma??

...Come to think of it, my grandmother's maiden name was Garcia. Hmmm. Weird.

Seriously though. I think they grow on trees in grandma-yards. Gotta get me one of those trees!

John's Secret Identity™ said...

A few years ago we were eating in a restaurant when a biker looking dude came by and handed out $2 bills to the kids.

Not sure if he was being sweet or predatory. Most likely the former, since he was with his wife (I presume).

katie! (: said...

my nana always gives me two dollar bills!
and she always says "you should save this never spend it"
so now i probably have 100 dollars in 2 dollar bills.

Grandma said...

Two dollar bills magically come to us. I do give them to my Grandchildren. Some of them I save. Oh and Brian..we don't poop them! Shame on you...now go to your room! ;-)

Grandma said...

Okay...I thought I should tell the truth. We DO have a 2 dollar Bill tree. All Grandparents do. You just have to give it tender loving care!

dcantrell said...

The $2 note shouldn't be restricted to just grandmas. I ask for them everywhere and try to use them. The design of the note hasn't changed since 1976, so it doesn't look like the crazy new $5, $10, $20, and $100 notes.

Vee said...

Some Banks give you one 2 dollar bill for you birthday.
Seeing as the general age for gma's is somewhere in their sixties they could have around sixty two dollar bills with there cute little grandson's name on it.

The Ferber Family said...

haha! one of my aunts used to send my sister and i a crisp, new $2 every year on our birthday! i still have all of them in a piggy bank somewhere. she was convinced they'd be worth a fortune someday. maybe they will. who knows, but this makes me feel better 'cause i thought we were the only strange family! :o)

Queen Hallowdragon said...

Oh, my god, that's funny--my grandmother used to make "money trees" for us for Christmas, loaded with twos!

Arcticroses said...

They print them on their computers?

Arcticroses said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
redelf said...

My husband has two in the basement. Not sure why.

Das Mutter said...

Our kids get them in their stocking from great granzy every single year. I can't imagine going IN to a bank these yets, yet alone to get $2 bills.

Jess Ray said...

Random question ... Is that a scan of the actual $2 bill? My scanner will not scan money .. I tried once, and it told me it was illegal. (i'm completely serious)..
HP doesn't play.

Please Type Legibly said...

Jorge, they came out around the bicentennial. I was little kid, and my folks got me one and a set of coins, which is how I remember it.

Cinnamon said...

I know what you mean!! I had one [I might still, but it is hidden somewhere] that I kept stuck to my bulletin board and it was a very holey $2 bill after so long.

Unknown said...

so it's not just my grandma?! i thought she was so original!!

K said...

It's like Jennifer said...

They go to the bank to get them. Then the grandkids (or whoever) bring them back to the bank to exchange them for other denominations. The same thing with dollar coins (new and old) and half-dollar coins (the huge Ike halves and the smaller Kennedy halves).

The strange thing is that they are legal tender, but no one wants to carry them around to actually purchase things with them. The majority either "collects" them or they eventually turn them into the bank to exchange for other currency.

Aunt_B said...

I'm the treasurer of the PTA at my kids school. Yesterday I was counting money for a fundraiser and someone paid for their crap with $14 in two dollar bills. Somewhere in my town there is one pissed off gramma.

Terimisu said...

word on the street is that $2 bills are good luck! :)

Christina Bauer said...

You know, my Grandma gave me a bunch of those $2 bills and told me to put them in the safety deposit box--apparently they will be of greater value some day. Probably just $2.01! Those bills are weird, though.

Christi said...

Don't you just love crazy money. I have several $2 bills from my grandparents. My grandpa also gave me a silver dollar each year on my birthday until I was 18. I still have them.

Whit said...

Ha, that's right on.

The only place I've actually seen $2 bills in real life (other than said cards from Grandma) was when I got dragged to the dog races. Apparently they're popular at the tracks- which raises some questions about Grandma's hobbies.

Miztification said...

My grandmother never gave me one, my dad did. I eventually wound up having to spend it, unless I've got it pressed between the pages of a journal or a photo album somewhere and forgot about it. I wasn't sure they still made them, I hardly see them anymore.

Sarah said...

I'm not sure where grandmothers get them from, but our local bank gives them out to the kids as "birthday money." It's so funny how in my area they still think $2 is a big deal. :) It's probably just the novelty of the bill though.

Have a great day! (Glad I came across your blog.) :)

Sarah

Kelley said...

This post made my day! I did not know that other grandmas did that! My Mom always gets them for the kids, and I never let them spend them because I heard it is bad luck!! :) When she lived in Germany she would send the elusive 5 DM bill to them too! Now I am glad that I saved those.

M said...

Well, it's the grandma's secret conspiracy.. ;) Seriously, grandma's latch on to these novelties, my father's mother, latched onto the Kennedy dollar coin, and saved it to give to us grandchildren when we would be old enough to not rush out and spend it on comics and treats. She was also a big collector of pennies, and gave me an official collection of pennies, one for each year, going back 50 or so years, in these blue booklets from the US mint, when I was 6. My husband's mother latched on to the 2 dollar bills, and the Susan B. Anthony coins, sure they would be a "collector's item", and gave several of each to her only grandchild, my daughter.

ValMo said...

They're all in a coffee can under her floorboards.

Jen L. said...

I KNOW! My grandma gave us a sack full of them when our son was born. I swear there are a hundred in there.

Webkidjulie said...

I didn't know they still made two dollar bills... Go Grandma! SHE ROCKS!

Allie Beth said...

They are bank robbers of course! Probably back in the 60's. I'm certain my nana was...

Tvini said...

I don't know, but I did start collecting Susan B. Anthony dollars before my kid was born so she'd have something cool from the tooth fairy.

Clarifying, I was collecting them FOR the tooth fairy to give out. Kids, I'm not saying I was doing the tooth fairy's job. Maybe I should move on to collecting $2 bills for when I'm finally a grandparent...

CherokeeLikeMe said...

That's what I'd like to know!

Debbie said...

I'm wondering that too; my Mom sends them to my kids all the time....

dm said...

If the bills aren't crispy, you can iron them. That's what we told people to do when they wanted money for gifts and we didn't have crispy on hand.

Dave Jr. said...

Every one of them originated at the San Diego Wild Animal Park Snow cone kiosks back in the 80s as change.

Pea said...

Well, in this area, $2 bills are used to tip strippers. Grandma may have a second job. =)

Momof4 said...

My Grandma used to ask for $2 bills at the bank, too. I don't think she used them for anything other than putting in birthday cards. It's a fun memory; I miss my Grandma. Thanks for reminding me about $2 bills.

Paperbak Writer said...

i heard that if you leave your dentures underneath your pillow at night, the tooth fairy gives them a good cleaning and leaves a $2 bill to boot. now THAT's an Early Bird Special i can do the charleston to! hazah!

vayankeegrl said...

I know at Monticello in Charlottesville, VA, they give you change in $2 bills because they have a picture of good old TJ on them. :)

And as for the crispiness, my grandparents would either get them straight from the bank, or my Grandma would iron them.

Ritch in Love said...

I just found two $2 bills from my grandma a few days ago. As I type they are sitting here on my desk! Where DO they come from? And I feel like it would be taboo to spend them...so here they sit...

Cat said...

More than once, when I had too many of those $2 bills, I tried to spend some and the cashier told me "There's no such thing!"

Nice.

Hollyween said...

I know, right?

And I thought I was the last person in the world to actually own one. I display it proudly under a magnet on my fridge.

And...
Every time I get a babysitter for my kids, I'm afraid she's going to steal it.

HellZiggy said...

I used to work at a convenience store that was a local chain. Every drawer had one $2 bill in it and you weren't allowed to ever give it out as change.
It was there in case you got robbed. They had records of all the serial numbers for the $2's and so if you were held up you were to make sure you gave that bill to the robber with the rest and if he was ever caught it would be further evidence against him. Luckily I never had to give out the $2 bill!

Bryan Harley said...

From the bank! I use $2 bills exclusively. 'Tis fun!