The resurgence of the $2 bill

In 2005, depository institutions ordered $122 million in $2 notes,
according to Federal Reserve statistics.  That is more than double the
average amount ordered from 1991 to 2000.

…with banking and currency experts not certain what is fueling the
surge. A few possibilities are inflation, the introduction of the
Sacagawea $1 coin in 2000, and even, according to some, immigration.

Regardless
of the reason, anecdotal evidence shows that at the local level,
vendors and customers are getting more comfortable with $2 bills.

One
group that has embraced the note is the exotic-dancing industry.  Strip
clubs hand out $2 bills when they give customers their change, and the
bills end up in dancers’ garters and bartenders’ tip jars.

"The
entertainers love it because it doubles their tip money," said Angelina
Spencer, a former stripper and the current executive director of the
Association of Club Executives, an adult nightclub trade group.

In
addition to the inflation factor, Robert Hoge of the American
Numismatics Society thinks $2 bill demand may be getting help from
immigration flows, particularly from Canada and Europe, where currency
denominated in twos is common.

Peter Morici, professor at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at
the University of Maryland, thinks that with the introduction of the
Sacagawea, named for a famous Native American woman, people are
beginning to realize an inconvenience of $1 bills.  "In order to have a
successful $2 bill, you have to have a successful $1 coin," he said.

Here is the full story.  It is odd, is it not, that people would change their denominational holdings as the most efficient way around wage and price stickiness?