In a previous post I talked about how I obtained a bunch of $2 bills and will go around spending them at various places.
The results were a bit mixed and it was somewhat interesting.
I’ve come to realize that I don’t spend much cash in general. I don’t mean I don’t spend money but rather most of my transactions are credit card based and cash transactions were few and far in between. This led to me taking a lot longer than I expected to spend the $200 worth of $2 bills I had obtained.
Most of my $2 bills were spent at mom & pop shops that didn’t accept credit and bars where opening a tab for a credit transaction is sometimes more trouble than it’s worth when it’s crowded.
At a bar I frequent they would have $3 specials for drinks on certain nights and two $2 bills easily covered the cost of the drink and a $1 tip for the bartender. One bartender in particular would eye every $2 bill I handed him and I understand as it is suspicious to have somebody pay in $2 bills all night.
Probably due to the myth that $2 bills are rare at one bar the bartender exchanged my $2 bills for singles from her purse probably because she wanted to hold onto them.
At another bar, the very attractive waitress flat out asked if they were real.
At one of my favorite sandwich shops the cashier gave me the wrong change. The total was $6.50 or so and I handed her 4 $2 bills and she gave me back 50 cents (I did get the correct change after pointing it out).
Numerous friends, cashiers, etc. have all said something along the lines of “$2 bills! You shouldn’t spend those, they’re rare!”.
A good number of my $2 bills went to friends who wanted to exchange them with me since they didn’t have any $2 bills.
All in all my personal $2 bill experiment was an interesting experience. I got to see firsthand how many people believed that $2 bills were rare and couple more of my friends realized I’m a bit eccentric. I have exactly one $2 bill left and I think I’ll keep it in my desk drawer. You know… cause they’re rare. 
