very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

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Jonah D'Avella
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very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Jonah D'Avella » Fri Jan 20, 2023 7:49 pm

When I go through a drive through in my T, I usually pay in 2 dollar bills and half dollars. The reactions can get pretty amusing. Anyways, I was at the dollar general not 30 min ago, and handed the cashier 2 two-dollar-bills. She wanted to keep them and asked the manager how she could do that. The manager told her how and then told her that they were a bad omen, then said that it was unlucky to save one. The cashier actually bought it (pun intended) and put them back in the drawer. Has anyone else heard that two-dollar-bills are unlucky? Any other experiences like this?
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Norman Kling
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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Norman Kling » Fri Jan 20, 2023 9:21 pm

Never heard it. However, some people used to get their pay checks cashed in 2 dollar bills and everything they bought they used them including contributions at church. I think I might have done it once.
Another thing I remember from 1952 was a trip I took in a Model A up through Bakersfield and across the Sierras to Reno. Then back through Bishop and Mohave. When I stopped at Reno, I went to the gas station to fill up the tank. I had larger than the gas cost and they gave me change with silver dollars. They were very apologetic that they didn't have paper ones. I lived in California and rarely saw a silver dollar, so I was happy to get them. I didn't keep any of them, but understand they are now worth more than face value.
Norm


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Jonah D'Avella
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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Jonah D'Avella » Fri Jan 20, 2023 9:50 pm

If you are referring to the 90% silver dollar coins, I have collected a dozen or so.
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DLodge
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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by DLodge » Sat Jan 21, 2023 8:41 am

I recall reading a story quite a while ago about an Army post where there was a lot of friction between the GIs and the local population. Those were the days when the soldiers were paid in cash, and the commandant of the fort told the paymaster to pay everyone in two-dollar bills for a couple of months. When the local business community saw how many two-dollar bills were showing up in their cash registers, much of the friction began to disappear.

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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Rich Eagle » Sat Jan 21, 2023 11:05 am

"Clerks have been known to refuse them (and not because they thought the bills counterfeit, as in the famed Taco Bell story) — theirs was an aversion to handling something believed cursed with ill fortune. The taboo against the $2 bill runs throughout North America but is not spread evenly; in some communities its presence is quite strong, in others almost non-existent."
https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=5bdaf7c9 ... Y2sv&ntb=1
When did I do that?


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by TXGOAT2 » Sat Jan 21, 2023 11:12 am

I got a hotrod Ford and a two dollar bill /
And I know a spot right over the hill/

I have no fear of $2.00 bills, or those Susan B. Anthony dollars, for that matter.

Most merchants will refuse the Billy Jeff Clinton $3.00 bill, so beware.


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Rich P. Bingham » Sat Jan 21, 2023 6:39 pm

Legend holds $2 bills were common currency in bordellos. I have never heard the bad omen superstition - perhaps there's a connection ?

Re/ silver dollars, until silver was removed from coinage in 1965, they circulated freely in southeastern Idaho and most of the intermountain west. I loved those old "cartwheels", they felt like (and are) real treasure. A silver dollar contained an ounce of fine silver as a 90% alloy. Today's spot price is $23.40, so yes, they are worth more than face value. The other silver coins, half-dollars, quarters and dimes contain proportional amounts of silver to support their intrinsic value.
Get a horse !


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Norman Kling » Sat Jan 21, 2023 9:52 pm

I know where one is, at least if someone has not yet found it. When I was about 10 years old a friend of my dad's gave me a silver dollar. I used to think it was fun to roll it across the room. Then one day it fell down in a crack in the floor. I tried to fish it out but at least at that age was unable to reach it. I wanted to take up the board in the floor, but my dad would not let me. The last time I went by there the house was still standing so that dollar might still be there!
Norm


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Jonah D'Avella
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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Jonah D'Avella » Sun Jan 22, 2023 12:40 am

I sure wish the dollar was backed by something solid like the good old days when you could trade in your bill for gold.
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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Burger in Spokane » Sun Jan 22, 2023 1:40 am

Really bad luck when all you got is a two-dollar bill and you need three bucks !
More people are doing it today than ever before !


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Jerry VanOoteghem » Sun Jan 22, 2023 7:41 am

You won't have any further trouble if you shop at Two Dollar General.

My buddy carries them all them time to use for tipping at restaurants. I guess he's a distributor of bad luck :shock:


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Jerry VanOoteghem » Sun Jan 22, 2023 7:46 am

TXGOAT2 wrote:
Sat Jan 21, 2023 11:12 am
I got a hotrod Ford and a two dollar bill /
And I know a spot right over the hill/
... there's soda pop and the dancin's free/
so if ya' wanna' have fun come along with me/

(RIP Hank!)


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Dallas Landers » Sun Jan 22, 2023 8:53 am

The lady at the bank saves them for me. She sold a PC and the guy paid her with $250 in 2 doller bills. She brought then in to me. They are fun to use with young people.


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by VinTin23 » Sun Jan 22, 2023 9:39 am

Never heard of that. I know that military units and some civilian companies use $2 bill to commemorate the 2nd anniversary or milestone of something.


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Pat Branigan Wisc » Sun Jan 22, 2023 10:11 am

I get $100. Worth of two dollar Bill's at the bank every month or so for tip money. I have a waitress that saves them and sends them to Her Granddaughter. I have given uncut two dollar sheet bill's for presents to some that's when you get quite a response.


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by BobD » Sun Jan 22, 2023 11:58 am

Last year when I purchased tickets for a steam train excursion at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, the cashier at the ticket booth was giving those who paid in cash at least one $2 bill in change. I have it posted on my bulletin board as a memento. :)


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by JohnM » Sun Jan 22, 2023 12:37 pm

If luck equals fortune, it would be good luck to have a 2 dollar bill, it would be bad luck when it's gone. :D


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by frontyboy » Sun Jan 22, 2023 11:01 pm

When we closed up my sister-in-laws home after she passed, As she was a sorta a pack rat we found lots of weird stuff including 2000 2 dollar bills. I keep them in a cookie jar, and when I have anything delivered from Costo, Amazon and food stores I use a 2.00 bill for an extra tip. it always gets a smile.

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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Petrah Phyre » Mon Jan 23, 2023 12:40 am

Keep one in my wallet so I'm never without cash.


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by noelchico » Sun Jan 29, 2023 11:30 pm

They circulate around our town with some frequency. they are used at the horse races for $2 bets. I get them before trips and use them for tips.


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Keith Daniels » Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:38 pm

Never heard the bad luck thing. My grandpa mentioned soldiers getting paid with them many years ago. I have a couple in my pocket right now, got them in change recently, don't remember where, but the clerk actually asked if I was okay with them as change.

I'm not a collector, but I do have an unopened pack of 100 $2 bills from the federal reserve in NYC from the early 90's. A guy bought a tanned wolf skin from me at a trapper's convention. He was from NY and sold some imported rodent traps for $8.00, so he would get the 2's for change. I thought it was kind of cool so just put them in the lock box.


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Jerry VanOoteghem » Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:53 am

Keith Daniels wrote:
Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:38 pm
Never heard the bad luck thing. My grandpa mentioned soldiers getting paid with them many years ago. I have a couple in my pocket right now, got them in change recently, don't remember where, but the clerk actually asked if I was okay with them as change.

I'm not a collector, but I do have an unopened pack of 100 $2 bills from the federal reserve in NYC from the early 90's. A guy bought a tanned wolf skin from me at a trapper's convention. He was from NY and sold some imported rodent traps for $8.00, so he would get the 2's for change. I thought it was kind of cool so just put them in the lock box.
So, you've got an extra $200 laying around. How could that be bad luck? :)


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by 5 WoodenWheels » Fri Feb 03, 2023 2:46 am

I haven’t heard that. Funny the things people believe. Of course I’ll do anything to avoid breaking a mirror or walking under a ladder or letting a black cat cross my path. That’s just asking for trouble. My experience with an unwanted $2 bill is like this and it’s not very exciting: when I offered it to the young woman at the cash register to pay for groceries along with some other cash, she looked at the crisp bill with a dubious expression and told me she wouldn’t be comfortable accepting that. To be clear, I was paying for groceries, not giving HER the $2. I really wasn’t in a fighting mood and had other cash on hand so I put the $2 back in my pocket and paid with other, more acceptable currency. See? I told you it wasn’t that exciting.

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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by DLodge » Fri Feb 03, 2023 10:30 am

5 WoodenWheels wrote:
Fri Feb 03, 2023 2:46 am
... Of course I’ll do anything to avoid breaking a mirror or walking under a ladder or letting a black cat cross my path....
I had a boss once who said, "I suppose you're one of those people who think it's bad luck to be superstitious."


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by TXGOAT2 » Fri Feb 03, 2023 10:42 am

It's OK to step on cracks in the sidewalk, but you must NOT step on the 14th crack after the first crack you step on, or you will awaken Apophis, The Destroyer! So keep an accurate count! An app is under development to keep track of the cracks for you and beep at every 12th crack. NEVER carry thirteen 2 dollar bills in your wallet, or do you WANT to destroy the Polar Bears??


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by 5 WoodenWheels » Fri Feb 03, 2023 1:53 pm

DLodge wrote:
Fri Feb 03, 2023 10:30 am
5 WoodenWheels wrote:
Fri Feb 03, 2023 2:46 am


I had a boss once who said, "I suppose you're one of those people who think it's bad luck to be superstitious."
Hahaha good one!


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Keith Daniels » Sat Feb 04, 2023 8:09 pm

Jerry VanOoteghem wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:53 am
Keith Daniels wrote:
Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:38 pm
Never heard the bad luck thing. My grandpa mentioned soldiers getting paid with them many years ago. I have a couple in my pocket right now, got them in change recently, don't remember where, but the clerk actually asked if I was okay with them as change.

I'm not a collector, but I do have an unopened pack of 100 $2 bills from the federal reserve in NYC from the early 90's. A guy bought a tanned wolf skin from me at a trapper's convention. He was from NY and sold some imported rodent traps for $8.00, so he would get the 2's for change. I thought it was kind of cool so just put them in the lock box.
So, you've got an extra $200 laying around. How could that be bad luck? :)
I'm hoping that holding them sealed in the pack this many years means they are more than an extra $200.00! :D


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Keith Daniels » Sat Feb 04, 2023 8:15 pm

I bought 2 dozen eggs off an Amish friend today, $3.00/dozen. I handed him 2 $2's and 2 $1's. He had a confused look on his face since I handed him 4 bills and the ones were on top, it was like he wanted to say something but didn't want too either. When he spread the bills and saw the 2's you could see the relief come across his face!


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Jerry VanOoteghem » Sun Feb 05, 2023 6:36 pm

Keith Daniels wrote:
Sat Feb 04, 2023 8:09 pm
Jerry VanOoteghem wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:53 am
Keith Daniels wrote:
Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:38 pm
Never heard the bad luck thing. My grandpa mentioned soldiers getting paid with them many years ago. I have a couple in my pocket right now, got them in change recently, don't remember where, but the clerk actually asked if I was okay with them as change.

I'm not a collector, but I do have an unopened pack of 100 $2 bills from the federal reserve in NYC from the early 90's. A guy bought a tanned wolf skin from me at a trapper's convention. He was from NY and sold some imported rodent traps for $8.00, so he would get the 2's for change. I thought it was kind of cool so just put them in the lock box.
So, you've got an extra $200 laying around. How could that be bad luck? :)
I'm hoping that holding them sealed in the pack this many years means they are more than an extra $200.00! :D
I'll bet you've got some bi-centennial quarters stashed away too. :D


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Re: very off topic: 2 dollar bills bad luck?

Post by Keith Daniels » Mon Feb 06, 2023 8:19 pm

Jerry VanOoteghem wrote:
Sun Feb 05, 2023 6:36 pm
Keith Daniels wrote:
Sat Feb 04, 2023 8:09 pm
Jerry VanOoteghem wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:53 am


So, you've got an extra $200 laying around. How could that be bad luck? :)
I'm hoping that holding them sealed in the pack this many years means they are more than an extra $200.00! :D
I'll bet you've got some bi-centennial quarters stashed away too. :D
More than likely! :lol:

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