$2 a day

From Wikkipaedia

After United States currency was changed to its current size, the two dollar bill, unlike other denominations, was only assigned to one class of currency, the United States Note. United States Notes had a legal statutory limit of $346,861,016 that could be in circulation at any one time which was not a significant amount of money at the time. The bulk of this amount was assigned to the $5 United States Note. From 1929-1957 (from Series of 1928 to Series 1953), the $2 bill on average was printed in quantities of 50 million notes per series with only several variances to this number. From 1957 onwards, $2 bill production figures steadily decreased from 18 million notes in Series 1953A to just 3.2 millions notes in its final printing, Series 1963A, which ended in 1966. By contrast, an average of 125 million per series of $5 United States Notes were printed from 1929-1957; the final Series 1963 printing of the $5 United States Note included 67.2 million notes.

When the current note was first issued in 1976, it was met with general curiosity, and was seen as a collectible, not as a piece of regularly circulating currency, which the Treasury intended it to be. The main reason it failed to circulate was that businesses never really requested them as part of their normal operations to give back out in change. This failure is linked to the gradual disappearance of the former $2 United States Notes.

Supplies of the Series 1976 $2 bill were allowed to dwindle until August 1996 when another series finally began to be printed; this series, however, was only printed for one Federal Reserve Bank. Once again, in October 2003, the $2 bill was printed initially for only one Federal Reserve Bank after supplies dwindled. A Series 2003A was also issued starting in 2006, with larger numbers & for multiple Federal Reserve Banks, due to an increase in demand for supplies of the note.

Nowadays, there is a common misconception that the $2 bill is no longer in circulation. According to the Treasury, they "receive many letters asking why the $2 bill is no longer in circulation." In response, the Treasury states: "The $2 bill remains one of our circulating currency denominations. According to B.E.P. statistics, 590,720,000 Series 1976 $2 bills were printed and as of February 28, 1999, there was $1,166,091,458 worth of $2 bills in circulation worldwide." However, 'in circulation' does not necessarily mean that the notes are actively circulated, only that this is the amount that hasn't been redeemed for shredding. The Treasury states that the best way for the $2 bill to circulate is if businesses use them as they would any other denomination.

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That's the history of the bill... but more important is the fact that today...

'Nearly one half of the world's population lives on less than $2 a day, and one sixth lives on less that #1 per day. More than a billion people lack access to safe drinking water. 25000 people a day die needlessly because food and basic health care are not available to them.'

We talked about this fact at youth group tonight and I gave each participant a fresh $2 bill with the above paragraph. I told them to put the $2 bill in place where they would see it often so that it could remind them of how most of the world lives and to think about it. Then we talked about ways that they each could make a difference with the Millennium Development Goals, such as buying nets to protect people as they sleep from mosquitoes infected with malaria, and the ONE Campaign.

Amazingly, the idea took off. There is something sweet about youthful enthusiasm. May it continue to be fired. One youth said he would get his bill laminated (so he wouldn't spend it!), and use it as a bookmark, and another was gungho to do a powerpoint presentation on malaria and nets and prevention to his 7th-grade class. Our Lenten project, it would seem, will be to raise money to give to Episcopal Relief and Development's gift of nets ($15 will buy nets and train people on how to prevent spread of the mosquitoes). Who knows? Maybe they will go for it and try to raise $325, enough for 25 families. Or maybe $700 for a village. We'll see.

Meanwhile, I pray for them, for their hope and belief that they can make a difference.