A circulated 1976 two dollar bill is worth two dollars. About 590 million were printed for the Bicentennial, the series stayed in production into 1978, and so many were saved as souvenirs that crisp, never-folded examples are still common. A clean uncirculated 1976 $2 sells for about $4-12 as of late 2026. The notes that carry a real premium have something extra: a star in the serial number from one of the smaller replacement runs, a very low or patterned serial, a printing error, or an unbroken pack of 100 consecutive notes in the original Federal Reserve strap. The first-day postmarked notes that so many families kept, with a 13 cent stamp cancelled April 13, 1976, are a genuine piece of the Bicentennial, but they were made by the hundreds of thousands and sell for about $5-20 unless the postmark is from an unusual place.
Quick answer
- Circulated 1976 $2: face value. Crisp uncirculated: about $4-12.
- First-day stamped and postmarked April 13, 1976: about $5-20; rare town postmarks and star notes do better.
- Star notes: about $8-30 circulated from common districts, $25-150 uncirculated, more for the small Minneapolis and Kansas City runs.
- Low serials under 1000, ladders, solids and radars: $50 to several thousand depending on the pattern and condition.
How to read a 1976 $2 bill, step by step
- Confirm the series. "SERIES 1976" is printed to the right of Jefferson's portrait, below the Treasury seal. The signatures are Francine I. Neff as Treasurer and William E. Simon as Secretary. There is only one 1976 series; no 1976A exists. The back shows John Trumbull's painting of the presentation of the Declaration of Independence, which replaced the Monticello back used on the red seal notes up to 1963.
- Find the district. The black seal to the left of the portrait names the Federal Reserve Bank, and the letter in the center of the seal, A through L, matches the first letter of the serial number. A is Boston, B New York, C Philadelphia, D Cleveland, E Richmond, F Atlanta, G Chicago, H St. Louis, I Minneapolis, J Kansas City, K Dallas, L San Francisco. District matters only for star notes and for people building a set of all twelve.
- Read the serial number. It appears twice, in green, in the format of a district letter, eight digits and a suffix letter, such as B 12345678 A. The suffix letter advances as each block of 99,999,999 notes is finished. A star in place of the suffix letter makes it a replacement note.
- Check for a star. Star notes replaced sheets that were rejected during printing. Every district had 1976 star notes, but the quantities differ widely. The larger runs from New York, Chicago and San Francisco are common; the small runs, with Minneapolis and Kansas City usually cited as the scarcest, bring several times more. Our guide to star notes value explains how to check a run size.
- Look at the serial for patterns. Low numbers (00000001 to 00001000), solid numbers (all one digit), ladders (12345678), radars (reads the same backward), repeaters (12341234) and binaries (only two digits used) all carry a premium. A serial under 100 on a crisp note is the one that reaches four figures.
- Grade the condition honestly. Hold the note to the light. Any fold, even a single center fold, moves it from uncirculated to "about uncirculated" and cuts the premium to a dollar or two. Look for soft corners, handling marks, pinholes and stains. A note that has been pressed flat still shows the fold line in raking light, and graders catch it.
- Check for a postmark. First-day notes have a 13 cent stamp, usually the 1976 Bicentennial issue or an ordinary stamp of the day, pasted on the face or back and cancelled with a post office date of April 13, 1976. The crisper the note, the clearer the cancel and the smaller the town, the better. A pasted stamp with no cancel is just a note with a stamp stuck on it.
- Look for printing errors. Misaligned backs, missing seals or serials, ink smears, gutter folds, cutting errors that show part of the next note, and mismatched serial numbers all occurred. Genuine errors on this series sell for about $50-1,500. Be aware that faked errors, such as a seal added with a rubber stamp, are common; our guide to misprinted money value covers what is real.
What 1976 $2 bills sell for
The figures below are sold prices for single notes as of late 2026. Uncirculated means no folds, sharp corners and bright paper; most notes that families describe as "mint" have a center fold.
| What you have | Typical value, about | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Circulated, any district, no star | $2 | Spend it or keep it; there is no premium |
| About uncirculated, one light fold | $2.50-4 | The most common grade for saved notes |
| Crisp uncirculated, common district | $4-12 | Gem examples with perfect centering at the top |
| First-day stamped and postmarked, circulated | $3-8 | Very common; most were folded afterward |
| First-day stamped and postmarked, crisp, clear cancel | $8-20 | Small-town and unusual cancels bring $20-60 |
| Star note, circulated, common district | $5-15 | New York, Chicago, San Francisco |
| Star note, uncirculated, common district | $20-60 | Price climbs with centering and paper quality |
| Star note, Minneapolis or Kansas City, uncirculated | $75-250 | The small runs; check the serial against a run table |
| Low serial under 1000, uncirculated | $50-300 | Under 100 reaches $500-2,000 and more |
| Solid, ladder or radar serial, uncirculated | $100-3,000 | Solids and true ladders at the top |
| Pack of 100 consecutive, original strap | $350-700 | Sells as a unit; breaking it loses value |
| Printing error, genuine | $50-1,500 | Dramatic errors such as missing backs at the top |
| Note graded 67 or higher by PMG or PCGS Banknote | $25-80 | The grade, not the note, carries the premium |
The honest picture: nearly every 1976 $2 bill in a drawer is worth about $2-12, and the people who kept a crisp one with a first-day postmark have about $10-20. The real money sits with the small-district stars, low serials and errors, and those are a tiny fraction of what was printed.
Stamped notes, star notes and serials: what moves the price
| Feature | Common version | Scarce version | Effect on price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Condition | Center fold, soft corners | Gem crisp uncirculated | Face value to about $10 |
| First-day cancel | Big-city post office, smudged | Small town, clear strike, crisp note | $5 to about $60 |
| Star | New York, Chicago, San Francisco | Minneapolis, Kansas City, Richmond | $5 to about $250 |
| Serial number | Random | Under 100, solid, ladder, radar | $2 to several thousand |
| Suffix letter | A, B, C | Later letters in small districts | Slight premium among specialists |
| Error | Light ink smear, slight shift | Missing seal, mismatched serial, cut error | $20 to about $1,500 |
Two things stack. A star note with a low serial, or an uncirculated star with a clean first-day cancel, is worth more than either feature alone, and a notable error on a star note draws the strongest bidding. One thing does not stack: a postmarked note that was folded afterward gets no condition premium, and the cancel adds a few dollars at most.
Why the 1976 note is not rare
The $2 bill had been discontinued in 1966 after the last red seal series. The 1976 reissue as a green seal Federal Reserve Note was timed for the Bicentennial, the Treasury promoted it, and the public treated it as a commemorative rather than money. People put them in frames, Bibles and envelopes. That is why so many survive crisp, and why the series has never become scarce even though shops rarely hand them out. The same logic applies to the Bicentennial quarter and the Bicentennial Eisenhower dollar: huge mintages, heavy saving, and a value today that depends on condition and errors rather than age. Later $2 series, from 1995 to 2017, are also worth face value in circulated condition, and our general guide to two dollar bill value covers the older red seals that do carry a premium.
How WorthPic reads 1976 $2 photos
WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. Photograph the front and back flat in daylight, and it reads the series, the district seal and letter, the full serial number including the suffix or star, the signatures and any stamp and postmark, and it looks at the paper for folds, corner wear, stains and the centering of the design. From that it names what the note is, checks the serial for a star and for low or patterned numbers, notes any cancel and whether it is legible, estimates the grade range the note would likely receive, and gives an honest value range. It says plainly when a photo cannot show something, which with banknotes is usually a light fold or a pressed-out crease that only shows in raking light, or a small print shift that may or may not be an error, and asks for the shot that would help: the note tilted under a lamp, or a close-up of the suspect area. It identifies and estimates. It never grades, authenticates or vouches for a note; PMG or PCGS Banknote with the note in hand is what the market accepts for a star, a fancy serial or an error worth more than about $50.
Common mistakes
- Expecting a premium for age. Fifty years is not old for a banknote, and the 1976 series was printed in enormous numbers.
- Describing a note with a center fold as uncirculated. Hold it to the light; one fold drops the price to a dollar or two over face.
- Ironing or pressing a note. Pressed notes are easy to spot and sell for less than honest folded ones.
- Treating a pasted stamp without a postmark as a first-day note. Only a dated cancel from April 13, 1976 counts.
- Breaking a consecutive pack to sell the notes one at a time. The pack is worth more intact.
- Assuming every star note is valuable. The large district runs are worth a few dollars over face in circulated condition.
- Paying for grading on a common note. A $20-30 fee on a note worth $5 is lost money; grade only stars from small runs, low serials and errors.
What to photograph
- The full face, flat, in daylight, with all four corners in frame and the serial numbers readable.
- The full back, the same way.
- A close-up of one serial number and the district seal, which settles the star and the pattern question.
- Any stamp and postmark close up, sharp enough to read the date and the town.
- The note tilted under a lamp so that folds and creases show in raking light. This is the photo that settles the uncirculated question.
- The strap and the first and last notes for a pack.
When to get it looked at in person
- PMG or PCGS Banknote grades and encapsulates notes with a written grade. Expect about $20-40 per note. Worth it for small-district stars, serials under 1000, solid and ladder serials, dramatic errors and gem examples for a registry set. Not worth it for a common crisp note or a typical first-day cancel.
- A currency dealer, ideally a member of the Professional Currency Dealers Association, buys and appraises for sale and can tell a genuine error from a faked one in seconds.
- A coin and currency show lets you compare a note against graded examples and get several opinions in one afternoon.
For the rest of a collection, our guides to old dollar bills worth money and star notes cover the series that do carry age premiums.