Catalog
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
| Issuer | United States Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1874-1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#154 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ACT OF MARCH 3D, 1863. THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR TWO DOLLARS ENGRAVED AND PRINTED AT THE BUREAU, ENGRAVING & PRINTING. SERIES OF 1917 THE UNITED STATES Will pay to bearer TWO DOLLARS Register of the Treasury. TWO Treasurer of the United States. UNITED STATES NOTE |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | SERIES OF 1917 PRINTED AT THE BUREAU OF ENGRAVING & PRINTING. UNITED STATES TWO 2 TWO OF AMERICA This note is a LEGAL TENDER at its face value for all Debts, Public and Private except Duties on Imports and INTEREST ON THE PUBLIC DEBT. Counterfeiting or Altering this Note or passing any counterfeit or alteration of it or having in possession any false or counterfeit plate or impression of it or any paper made in imitation of the paper on which it is printed is Felony and is punishable by $5,000 fine, or 15 years Imprisonment at Hard Labor or both. |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The United States Notes — Legal Tender Notes in Treasury parlance — were a Civil War creation that outlasted their emergency origins by decades. Congress established them in 1862 to fund Union expenditures without relying on coin, and despite repeated political attempts to retire the series entirely, a standing requirement to maintain $346,681,016 in Legal Tender Notes in circulation kept them alive well into the twentieth century. That figure was not arbitrary; it was the amount outstanding when the Legal Tender Act's circulation cap was finally fixed by statute.
The long production window for P#154 — over four decades — means multiple signature combinations exist, and these determine value far more than condition for most collectors. The Speelman-White pairing from the final years of the series is the most common; earlier combinations command significant premiums.