# The truth about the $3.00 bill
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [September 13, 2022, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504 "2022-09-13T16:07:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/21 "2022-09-13T20:45:45Z")
I hesitated before posting this, because it is not a Federal Reserve Note, but here is your $3.00 bill
[ ](https://moar-prod.imgix.net/3a3ce721-cf13-4ebd-b0f3-15c27dbd47c5/image_092320_16x9_continental_currency_collection_1776-ContinentalCurrency.png)
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### Author:  [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/22 "2022-09-13T20:46:37Z")
> [@DrDeth](#):
>
> The $2 bill was also made for racetrack betting.
Back in the dawn of time in Alberta, paying in $2 bills was frowned upon because it was obvious that you’d just been a degenerate hanging around the racetrack all day.
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### Author:  [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/23 "2022-09-13T20:47:51Z")
The worst thing about the Dope. Why don’t you just Google it?
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/24 "2022-09-13T20:47:55Z")
There are plenty of small-circulation three dollar bills from local areas, and lots of novelty (non-money) three dollar bills. And there was a three dollar gold piece in use in the 19th century
> **[Three-dollar piece](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-dollar_piece)**
>
> The three-dollar piece was a gold coin produced by the United States Bureau of the Mint from 1854 to 1889. Authorized by the Act of February 21, 1853, the coin was designed by Mint Chief Engraver James B. Longacre. The obverse bears a representation of Lady Liberty wearing a headdress of a Native American princess and the reverse a wreath of corn, wheat, cotton, and tobacco.
> In 1851, Congress had authorized a silver three-cent piece so that postage stamps of that value could be purchased witho...
But no nationwide 20th century three dollar bills I know of, even as test pieces.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/25 "2022-09-13T20:48:04Z")
> [@DrDeth](#):
>
> Arrested?
> [@purplehorseshoe](#):
>
> Gonna need a cite for this documentation.
> **[A tale of customer service, justice and currency as funny as a $2 bill](https://www.baltimoresun.com/2005/03/08/a-tale-of-customer-service-justice-and-currency-as-funny-as-a-2-bill/)**
>
> PUT YOURSELF in Mike Bolesta’s place. On the morning of Feb. 20, he buys a new radio-CD player for his 17-year-old son Christopher’s car. He pays the $114 installation charge with 57 cr…
> PUT YOURSELF in Mike Bolesta’s place. On the morning of Feb. 20, he buys a new radio-CD player for his 17-year-old son Christopher’s car. He pays the $114 installation charge with 57 crisp new $2 bills, which, when last observed, were still considered legitimate currency in the United States proper. The $2 bills are Bolesta’s idea of payment, and his little comic protest, too.
>
> For this, Bolesta, Baltimore County resident, innocent citizen, owner of Capital City Student Tours, finds himself under arrest.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/26 "2022-09-13T20:48:28Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#):
>
> > [@ekedolphin](#):
> >
> > there’s been at least one documented case of someone getting arrested for it
>
> Gonna need a cite for this documentation.
[Here](https://geektyrant.com/news/a-man-was-arrested-for-using-2-bills-at-best-buy-because-the-employee-and-cop-had-never-seen-one-before) is one cite; the guy tried to use two-dollar bills at a Best Buy, I think in Maryland.
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### Author:  [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/27 "2022-09-13T20:49:41Z")
Right; sorry, that’s the cite I found. Sorry I didn’t put it up. I know it was kind of a wild claim.
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### Author:  [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/28 "2022-09-13T20:49:57Z")
> [@Michael\_Varn](#):
>
> As we know in 1976, the two dollar bill was created and put into circulation as it remains today.
Not sure if this is what you intended, but the two dollar bill was produced and in circulation long before 1976. Right now _that auction site_ lists several from 1928.
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### Author:  [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/29 "2022-09-13T20:54:21Z")
Don’t be sorry. We even had [a thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515) on it here. Calling someone out for a cite when the mentioned topic is both well known and easy to verify in like 30 seconds is on the other people.
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### Author:  [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/30 "2022-09-13T20:57:48Z")
> [@Schnitte](#):
>
> $2 bills can’t be so rare. I’ve only visited the United States several times on visits that just lasted a few weeks each, and I remember getting at least one in everyday transactions (and re-spending it).
That’s actually pretty lucky. I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve only ever got them as change 2 or 3 times. It’s comparatively rare even for Americans. Even more now that so many transactions are cashless.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/31 "2022-09-13T21:05:04Z")
Yeah, my experience matches @Great_Antibob’s, not @Schnitte’s. I’m wondering when and where he was getting all those $2 bills.
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### Author:  [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/32 "2022-09-13T21:09:54Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#):
>
> … I hesitate to spend $2 bills, because cashiers sometimes don’t believe they’re real …
When a new $20 was introduced years ago, a cashier at a store I was at wasn’t informed. Luckily, the coworker she called over knew of the new notes and the Secret Service did not need to get involved.
> [@Great\_Antibob](#):
>
> I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve only ever got them as change 2 or 3 times.
I use cash a lot and can’t remember ever getting one as change. I worked retail (including a coffee shop where smaller notes were pretty common) and only got a handful.
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### Author:  [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/33 "2022-09-13T21:20:54Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#):
>
> the Secret Service did not need to get involved
_Can_ one just ring up the Feds like that and get them involved? Would they hurry over there for a single $20? Conversely, what about a customer whose official legal tender is not being accepted (perhaps an older Federal Reserve Note)—would the Feds deal with it?
trivia: a bank teller once told me that not only did they have no $1000 bills to give me, their instructions were to take out of circulation any they did run across, despite they being legal tender.
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### Author:  [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/34 "2022-09-13T21:29:22Z")
“Just Google it” is not how the SDMB works, IMHO. If someone makes a claim, they should the one to provide documentation.
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### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/35 "2022-09-13T21:36:17Z")
> [@DPRK](#):
>
> a bank teller once told me that not only did they have no $1000 bills to give me, their instructions were to take out of circulation any they did run across, despite they being legal tender.
Just because money is legal tender does not require it to be in circulation.
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### Author:  [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/36 "2022-09-13T21:47:59Z")
> [@DPRK](#):
>
> _Can_ one just ring up the Feds like that and get them involved?
I was mostly joking. If it was actually counterfeit, yes, the Secret Service is the investigating agency. Local police would take me into custody and notify the Feds. Similarly, local law enforcement respond to a bank robbery in progress which is later investigated by FBI.
There are also ways the public can reach various Federal law enforcement agencies for things like calling in tips or coming forward as a witness to a crime.
Edit to add:
> … they have no $1000 bills to give me, their instructions were to take out of circulation …
$500 notes, too. $100 is the largest denomination still produced.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/37 "2022-09-13T21:51:46Z")
> [@DPRK](#):
>
> _Can_ one just ring up the Feds like that and get them involved? Would they hurry over there for a single $20? Conversely, what about a customer whose official legal tender is not being accepted (perhaps an older Federal Reserve Note)—would the Feds deal with it?
In the case of the guy arrested at Best Buy for trying to spend two-dollar bills, the police officer also thought the bill were not real and he wasn’t freed until the Secret Service was consulted.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/38 "2022-09-13T21:53:11Z")
It’s following basic burden of proof, which exists for a reason The person who makes a claim needs to back it up. Claims are easy to make, and we would be overwhelmed with spurious ones if people weren’t expected to back them up.
You might say that Googling something takes little effort, but making that the norm adds up. Plus it’s not like you would just take the top result or anything—you’d want to check the quality and veracity of the source.
I love it. It’s far more annoying being on, say, Twitter, where people just say things without any evidence, and seeing so many people just believe them unquestioningly.
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### Author:  [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/39 "2022-09-13T21:53:46Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#):
>
> Not sure if this is what you intended, but the two dollar bill was produced and in circulation long before 1976. Right now _that auction site_ lists several from 1928.
It had been produced and circulated, but it was discontinued in 1966. Then they gave it a facelift and put it into circulation to celebrate the bicentennial.
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### Author:  [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2022, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-about-the-3-00-bill/971504/40 "2022-09-13T21:59:45Z")
> [@Michael\_Varn](#):
>
> into circulation as it remains today.
You guys in the USA probably don’t see many US$2 notes, but last time I was in Zimbabwe, the economy basically ran on them.
Each note was generally as soft as toilet paper, having been passed through so many hands, but given the currency crisis and difficulty of raising Forex, the $2 was the biggest note that was around. I took some US$100s, and when I bought anything (diesel is expensive there!) I got my change in numerous limp, tired US$2 bills
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