# $2 bill-good luck or bad luck? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 20, 2011, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334 "2011-03-20T05:29:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/1 "2011-03-20T05:29:35Z")
When my maternal grandmother was still alive, she was convinced $2 bills were good luck. She always gave them to us as kids, and the few times I see one I make sure to keep it. Imagine my suprise when I found out many people consider them bad luck. What do you think? And how often do you see one? ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/2 "2011-03-20T05:31:25Z")
I have not seen a 2 dollar bill in years, don’t consider them either good luck or bad. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/3 "2011-03-20T05:32:39Z")
I’ve seen them once or twice and have no luck associations with them at all other than that some cashiers won’t take them which is bad luck. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/4 "2011-03-20T05:34:50Z")
I consider $2 bills good luck. They are amazing conversation starters, whether it be with a random old person near you when you pay with a few of them or with the cute girl working the register at which you’re using to pay. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TexasDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@TexasDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TexasDriver)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/5 "2011-03-20T05:37:32Z")
> [@the lone cashew](#): > > I have not seen a 2 dollar bill in years, don’t consider them either good luck or bad. Ditto. I just read something somewhere about Las Vegas gamblers considered them bad luck and to counter it would tear off the corners. The banks would get stacks of mutilated 2 dollar bills. (Now, where did I read that?) ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/6 "2011-03-20T05:46:16Z")
> [@TexasDriver](#): > > Ditto. I just read something somewhere about Las Vegas gamblers considered them bad luck and to counter it would tear off the corners. The banks would get stacks of mutilated 2 dollar bills. (Now, where did I read that?) I bet it was Somewhere On the Internet. That place has everything. ---
**Author:** ![ImNotPaulAvery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@ImNotPaulAvery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ImNotPaulAvery)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/7 "2011-03-20T06:22:16Z")
Good luck. I used to have one that I kept hung up in a frame when I was a kid. I say any money is good money. I don’t care about the penny on the ground heads/tails thing, either. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/8 "2011-03-20T06:49:10Z")
I too have never heard of luck being connected to them either way, just rarity and oddness. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/9 "2011-03-20T07:18:10Z")
Mostly fun-loving quirky oddness, soooo if I had to choose, good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/10 "2011-03-20T07:54:24Z")
Neither. They just are. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/11 "2011-03-20T09:23:07Z")
Whenever I’m in the bank I ask for as many $2-dollar bills as they can give me, and I use them whenever I’d otherwise use two $1-dollar bills, just as I’d use a ten instead of two fives. That’s what they’re for. Not for good luck or bad luck or “saving” or for quirkiness or loving fun. Where the hell does that come from? As long as you people continue to treat the $2-dollar bill like an oddity they’ll never make cash drawers to accommodate them, and you thereby predetermine the “oddity.” ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/12 "2011-03-20T09:53:00Z")
They are what we use them for. If you prefer to treat them in such a mundane fashion, that’s all well and good. That doesn’t mean others cant have their fun. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/13 "2011-03-20T10:56:22Z")
When they first came out I considered them good luck and tucked the away into some fold in my wallet. I haven’t seen one “in the wild” in years and rarely go directly to a bank. I’d snag a few if I thought about it though. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/14 "2011-03-20T12:34:18Z")
You can apparently buy uncut sheets of $2 bills that are actual legal tender. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is a bit of a prankster, so he buys them and uses them to pay for things. He has a printer cut them into smaller sheets, bind them into pads, and perforate them so individual bills can be torn off. Here he is showing them and talking about them, but he phrases it in a way that makes it sound like he’s actually printing them. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ1TIYxm1vM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ1TIYxm1vM) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/15 "2011-03-20T13:22:17Z")
> [@TexasDriver](#): > > Ditto. I just read something somewhere about Las Vegas gamblers considered them bad luck and to counter it would tear off the corners. The banks would get stacks of mutilated 2 dollar bills. (Now, where did I read that?) The “bad luck” thing is more of a generational divide. My mom, 88 this year, was from Southern Virginia and Southern Baptist. So, rather conservative. $2 bills were associated with gambling(specifically the $2 bet at horse races). So, every time you got a $2 bill, you tore the corner off to break the spell of bad luck. These were the old “red seal” $2 bills issued in the 1928/1953/1963 series. As a coin dealer, I see 20-75 “red seal” $2 notes every day. And, I’d say 20% of them have a corner(corners) torn off. The modern series of “green seal” $2 notes started in 1976. You hardly ever see corners torn off of green seal $2. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/16 "2011-03-20T14:09:17Z")
I imagine they might be bad luck if you’re married. Unless of course you have a really cool wife. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/17 "2011-03-20T15:08:34Z")
Travel tip: If you go to Vietnam take a bunch of $2 bills with you to use at tips. There they are considered to be very lucky. I actually saw a young waitress in the airport that had one folded and stuffing in the ID tag she wore around her neck. I have no idea why they consider them good luck. If someone knows, chime in. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/18 "2011-03-20T15:17:55Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > You can apparently buy uncut sheets of $2 bills that are actual legal tender. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is a bit of a prankster, so he buys them and uses them to pay for things. He has a printer cut them into smaller sheets, bind them into pads, and perforate them so individual bills can be torn off. > > Here he is showing them and talking about them, but he phrases it in a way that makes it sound like he’s actually printing them. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ1TIYxm1vM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ1TIYxm1vM) Yes, I have a page of them. I used to collect coins and such and when I got the house a friend bought a page and had them framed. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/19 "2011-03-20T15:32:49Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > They are what we use them for. If you prefer to treat them in such a mundane fashion, that’s all well and good. That doesn’t mean others cant have their fun. Fair enough! But I beg of you, after you’ve used them for your superstitious purposes, please, please _ **use** _ them! Get a coffee at Starbucks…play the exacta…tip the waiter with them! Only by inundating merchants with the Two can we force them to create a new section in the tray in cash registers. Until then, the Two will remain a second-class bill. The Pro-Two Movement (PTM) is only starting, but “good-luck” and “bad-luck” games will certainly interfere with it’s growing momentum if we lose sight of our greater goal. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334/20 "2011-03-20T16:23:34Z")
I always get a stack from the bank to use for tips in Vegas. That way the drinks get delivered promptly. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-bill-good-luck-or-bad-luck/575334.md?page=2)