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Paid in Twos
The $2 bill's real superpower: it is money that gets noticed. People have used that to make a point since at least 1977.
The Employer's Version
Hornady Manufacturing, Grand Island, Nebraska, 2014
After the city council questioned how much the ammunition maker mattered to the local economy, Hornady paid $61,000 of its employee bonuses in $2 bills to more than 300 workers. Vice president Jason Hornady told Time: "Two years ago, we caught a lot of flack from the city council, which we disagreed with. It kind of hurt our feelings." His instruction to staff: "If people look at you funny, tell them where you work, and we think that they will notice." The twos came on top of a check and a 401(k) deposit. The company reportedly repeated the stunt in 2021.
Source: Time, "Nebraska Firm Paid Employee Bonuses in $2 Bills," June 17, 2014
Geneva Steel, Utah, 1989
The Utah Valley steel mill "paid employee bonuses with $2 bills," and, as the Deseret News put it, "the uncommon currency circulated through the community and demonstrated the importance of the steel mill to the Utah Valley economy." The idea outlived the mill: in 2003, after Geneva closed, three BYU sociologists mailed a $2 bill in each survey envelope to former steelworkers to get them to answer questions about how the shutdown had hit their families.
Source: Deseret News, "Geneva workers give their $2 worth," May 17, 2003
The Milwaukee Envelope Job
A reader told The Points Guy he collected $10,000 in $2 bills from about 40 Milwaukee banks for a company promotion that stuffed 5,000 envelopes. Another reported that Washington Federal binds $1 and $2 bills into holiday booklets of 25 at face value.
Source: The Points Guy, "When $2 May Be Your Secret Ticket to VIP Service"
The Tourism Version: Spend Tom
Visitor bureaus figured out that a $2 bill is a tracking device. Put stamped twos into circulation, and every one that turns up at a register is proof that tourist money reached that business.
- Sonoma County, 2009. The original "Spend Tom" campaign put $25,000 in $2 bills into circulation during National Tourism Week, May 9 to 17, 2009, and cited "more than $1.3 billion in travel spending" and "more than $79 million in State and local tax receipts" for the county.
- California statewide, May 2010. The California Travel and Tourism Commission ran Spend Tom across 16 destinations. In Lodi, 15 businesses gave twos as change and recipients entered a raffle by reporting where they got the bill and how they spent it; Visit Lodi's Nancy Beckman: "This helps show how visitor dollars get spent and go through the community." In South Lake Tahoe, 26 businesses took part and prize packages ran $350 to $522. The Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority's Carol Chaplin: "With the Louisiana Purchase doubling the size of the United States, Mr. Jefferson was obviously prescient regarding the importance of travel."
Sources: Spend Tom on Flickr (Sonoma County, 2009) · Lodi News-Sentinel, "'Spend Tom' campaign in Lodi," May 11, 2010 · Tahoe Daily Tribune, "Spend Tom, get prizes," May 14, 2010
The Protest Version
The Starbucks Buycott, February 14, 2012
When a gun-control group called for a Valentine's Day boycott of Starbucks over its policy of following local open-carry laws, gun owners answered with a "buycott": go to Starbucks, pay and tip in $2 bills "to signify support for the Second Amendment." More than 24,500 people committed on Facebook against the boycott group's 258 followers, and one store reported "the busiest Tuesday" with a drawer "full of $2 bills." Starbucks kept its policy: "We are extremely sensitive to the issue of gun violence in our society and believe that supporting local laws is the right way for us to ensure a safe environment."
Sources: Buckeye Firearms Association, February 2012 · Christian Science Monitor, February 16, 2012
Clemson, Every Away Game Since 1977
The original and still the biggest. The bank that supplies the tradition, First Citizens in Clemson, told ESPN in 2019 that "if it's a big game, we typically run out"; about 250 customers exchanged currency before the Cotton Bowl, and George Bennett, who started it all, took $300 in twos. A Dallas bartender said one in five customers paid in $2 bills during Clemson's visit. The full story.
Source: ESPN, "Clemson, $2 bills and a one-of-a-kind bowl tradition," January 3, 2019
The Personal Version
The Lawyer Who Tips the Grammys
At the 68th Grammy Awards on February 1, 2026, Chappell Roan, Lady Gaga, Rose, Sabrina Carpenter, and Shaboozey were all photographed holding $2 bills. The source was Steven Reisman, a lawyer who has handed out twos for luck since 2005 and reportedly spends $50,000 to $70,000 a year doing it. He told Bored Panda he wishes recipients "good health, good luck, and wealth" and hopes the kindness "spreads like wildfire."
Sources: Bored Panda · Upworthy
The $2 Tip
The Wall Street Journal split the country into "those who are barely aware $2 bills still circulate, and those who live the $2 bill lifestyle." Its example was an Air Force officer, Nathan Broshear, who tips bartenders in twos because "the person feels like they got a $5 or $10 tip. But it still only cost me two dollars."
Sources: The Wall Street Journal, March 26, 2018 (Michael M. Phillips), via WSJ's post · The Points Guy summary