 The first paper money, including the $2 bill, was printed by the federal government in 1862. Coin was the most widely used form of payment at the time, therefore paper money took some time to catch on. A $2 bill was a hefty bill around the turn of the century because the majority of Americans made less than $15 per month at that time. The majority of people still preferred using coins even after inflation started to reduce the value of paper money. The Great Depression, the nation's longest and most severe economic downturn to date, lasted from 1929 to 1941. Paper money was useless at that time because most goods and services cost less than a dollar. In 1966, the Federal Reserve stopped producing $2 notes as demand and use fell over time. Ten years later, in 1976, the Federal Reserve reintroduced the $2 bill with a brand new, exquisite image showing the declaration of independence's delivery to the Continental Congress on the bill's reverse. The picture on the reverse of the new note was particularly appropriate because Thomas Jefferson is one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence. They expected the reprinting to boost usage and interest in the measure, but the opposite happened. Many people stored the bills as collector's goods, hiding them in safe deposit boxes, drawers, and keepsake boxes in the expectation that the newly designed bill, which was printed for the United States by Centennial, would be a special printing. It is believed that the $2 bill's poor reputation is one of the reasons it was never widely used. According to an urban tale, election fraud used to be popular and a favorable vote would earn you $2. Having a $2 bill may be interpreted as evidence that you sold your vote because it was believed that politicians would buy votes for $2. The myth gave the bill a nasty character despite the fact that it was probably just an urban legend. Early in the 1920s, prostitution cost $2 per trick, prompting some to call the note a whore note. If you won, you were frequently paid in $2 banknotes at the betting tracks $2 window. People could suspect you were a gambler if you were discovered to have $2 bills in your wallet. The $2 bill was frequently considered unlucky because the devil's nickname is deuce. In the belief that doing so would counteract the bad fortune of the bill, recipients would pull off one corner. As a result, several of the bills were removed from circulation as damaged currency. Poor Tom had a hard time getting by. The Federal Reserve found a means to recoup the expense of generating these currencies because the general public preferred not to use them. You could find lovely old Tom working out in military pay envelopes, USOs, post exchanges, commissaries, and everywhere you find soldiers from World War II until at least the 1980s. What do you think of the $2 bill? Please tell us in the comments.