- [Narrator] Open up your wallet and you'd expect to find
ones, 10s, 20s, and maybe even a hundo.
The last thing you'd ever expect is a Tom,
also known as a $2 bill.
Here's why:
♫ Let me show you the money
It was 1862, the federal government had just started
printing its first paper money.
The first and only denominations were the $1 and $2 bills.
And keep in mind, at the time,
people were making about $15 a month.
To pay using a $2 bill was a status symbol
on the wealthiest of Americans could afford,
and a lot of the time they used them
for under the table transactions like political bribes,
prostitutes, and gambling.
The Tom ultimately got a bad rap and was deemed unnecessary.
In 1966, the government took a 10-year hiatus
and stopped printing those bad boys.
But in 1976, the government gave them another try,
this time classing them up a bit,
issuing a special bicentennial bill.
A little too classy, some would argue.
People began hiding them away as collectors items,
leading to less bills in circulation,
which brings us to present day.
Though rare, Toms are still being printed
and there are over a billion in circulation.
Most people keep them as keepsakes,
though there is a sub-culture of $2 ambassadors
who are set on keeping the Tom alive by using them
every chance they get.
So, the next time you're paying with cash,
go ahead, use a Tom.