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Introduction. Beyond doubt has been the popularity of the United States' quarter-dollar coin program (1999-2008) honoring each of the fifty states, as evidenced by the large number of collection folders offered by retailers. In fact, the schedule has been extended into 2009 to recognize several additional areas. In light of that success, this page offers a plan for printing two-dollar bills recognizing each of the nation's component jurisdictions.

There are important differences between this two-dollar proposal and the quarter-dollar program:

• With the state coins, five were issued per year throughout a ten-year period. After approximately ten weeks' production of a state's coin, it was not minted again. On the other hand, all jurisdictions' bills would be printed in every press run, and the program could last any desired number of years.
• With the coins, mintages varied widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, from a high of 1595 million for Virginia to a low of 417 million for Oklahoma. By contrast, all jurisdictions can be represented equally among these two-dollar bills.
• Each coin called for a new design to be approved by the jurisdiction and federal government. These bills will instead use the seal of each jurisdiction as the basis of the design. State seals in fact have appeared on the reverses of United States currency before, in the early series of National Bank Notes (e.g. Texas, North Carolina) and National Gold Bank Notes (e.g. California).

Still, the two programs have similarities:

• The specialization for the jurisdiction is on the reverse of the piece; the obverse remains generic.
• This plan incorporates the sequence of states and possessions used by the United States Mint for the quarters: the thirteen original states are arranged by the date that each ratified the Constitution, remaining states by the date that each was added to the Union, and possessions are at the end. We call this the mint sequence.

We assume that these two-dollar bills (briefly, deuces or toms) would be issued as Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs).

Design of the individual bill. Of many options, one is a traditional approach combining the obverse of the 1976 FRN with the reverse of the 1963 United States Note. The reverse is modified by replacing Monticello with a jurisdiction seal, in this example South Carolina's:

A modern version resembles FRNs of higher denominations ($5–$100) from the early 21st century. The large portrait, which is off center, suggests using a large jurisdiction seal (in this example Idaho's), also off center. The border of this reverse comes from the 1976 FRN.

This portrait of Jefferson has also appeared on previous deuces: a Legal Tender Note of 1880 and a Federal Reserve Bank Note of 1918

Reverses of sheets. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) generally produces notes in sheets of 32 subjects, 4 wide and 8 tall. We suggest printing two varieties of reverse sheets (called "X" and "Y" respectively), each with half the states and possessions. The two sheets should be printed in equal quantities.

One such pair of sheets, uncut, would likely appeal to a currency hobbyist, as all the jurisdictions would be represented. On the other hand, a strap of 100 new pieces would likely contain only one jurisdiction. A strap of new bills would have consecutive serial numbers in the absence of star notes, as with other United States currency.

The simplest plan is to print the obverses without regard for what jurisdictions appear on the respective reverses. A more complicated alternative is to coordinate the serial number on the front with the jurisdiction seal on the back; the arrangement of seals on the reverses is designed to facilitate this choice, which will be discussed later.

On each sheet are four leftover positions for which suitable designs need to be selected; an obvious default is the obverse or reverse of the seal of the United States.

Tables 1X and 1Y below show how to arrange the jurisdictions on the reverses. In each cell are:

• the plate position indicator, in bold
• the mint sequence number
• a two-letter abbreviation for the jurisdiction according to the United States Postal Service
• the jurisdiction's name.

The plate position information is printed only on the obverses of the actual notes, and is included in this table of reverses merely for reference.

Table 1X: reverse of an "X" sheet	E3 41 MT Montana	A3 33 OR Oregon	E1 09 NH New Hampshire	A1 01 DE Delaware
	F3 43 ID Idaho	B3 35 WV West Virginia	F1 11 NY New York	B1 03 NJ New Jersey
	G3 45 UT Utah	C3 37 NE Nebraska	G1 13 RI Rhode Island	C1 05 CT Connecticut
	H3 47 NM New Mexico	D3 39 ND North Dakota	H1 15 KY Kentucky	D1 07 MD Maryland
	E4 57 to be determined	A4 49 AK Alaska	E2 25 AR Arkansas	A2 17 OH Ohio
	F4 59 to be determined	B4 51 DC District of Columbia	F2 27 FL Florida	B2 19 IN Indiana
	G4 61 to be determined	C4 53 GU Guam	G2 29 IA Iowa	C2 21 IL Illinois
	H4 63 to be determined	D4 55 VI US Virgin Islands	H2 31 CA California	D2 23 ME Maine
Table 1Y: reverse of a "Y" sheet	E3 42 WA Washington	A3 34 KS Kansas	E1 10 VA Virginia	A1 02 PA Pennsylvania
	F3 44 WY Wyoming	B3 36 NV Nevada	F1 12 NC North Carolina	B1 04 GA Georgia
	G3 46 OK Oklahoma	C3 38 CO Colorado	G1 14 VT Vermont	C1 06 MA Massachusetts
	H3 48 AZ Arizona	D3 40 SD South Dakota	H1 16 TN Tennessee	D1 08 SC South Carolina
	E4 58 to be determined	A4 50 HI Hawaii	E2 26 MI Michigan	A2 18 LA Louisiana
	F4 60 to be determined	B4 52 PR Puerto Rico	F2 28 TX Texas	B2 20 MS Mississippi
	G4 62 to be determined	C4 54 AS American Samoa	G2 30 WI Wisconsin	C2 22 AL Alabama
	H4 64 to be determined	D4 56 MP Northern Mariana Islands	H2 32 MN Minnesota	D2 24 MO Missouri

Obverses of sheets. Desirable, but not required, is to coordinate the serial number on the obverse of the note with the jurisdiction seal on the reverse. Beyond manipulating the serial, no customization of the obverses for jurisdictions is proposed. In particular, any special treatment of the twelve Federal Reserve Bank districts will be difficult, because quantities printed for each can vary widely.

First plan. Sheets might be printed in runs of 10 thousand pairs of sheets yielding 640 thousand notes. Tables 2X and 2Y show the pattern of plate positions and serial numbers, while tables 3X and 3Y explain how numbering varies from sheet to sheet.

• The third and fourth digits of the serial number correspond to the mint sequence.
• For ease of reading, an underscore is written between the fourth and fifth digits of each serial number, but this character would not be printed on the actual notes.
• Serial numbers 9965_0000 through 9999_9999 would not be used. Should additional sheets be needed, serial numbers beginning with 98 instead of 99 can be used.
• The digits of each serial number will likely be prefixed and suffixed by letters chosen by the Treasury, but those are not shown.

Table 2X: obverse of first "X" sheet	A1 9901_0000	E1 9909_0000	A3 9933_0000	E3 9941_0000	Table 3X: obverses of subsequent "X" sheets	9901_0001 through 9963_0001   9901_0002 through 9963_0002   9901_0003 through 9963_0003   et sequentia, ending with   9901_9999 through 9963_9999
	B1 9903_0000	F1 9911_0000	B3 9935_0000	F3 9943_0000
	C1 9905_0000	G1 9913_0000	C3 9937_0000	G3 9945_0000
	D1 9907_0000	H1 9915_0000	D3 9939_0000	H3 9947_0000
	A2 9917_0000	E2 9925_0000	A4 9949_0000	E4 9957_0000
	B2 9919_0000	F2 9927_0000	B4 9951_0000	F4 9959_0000
	C2 9921_0000	G2 9929_0000	C4 9953_0000	G4 9961_0000
	D2 9923_0000	H2 9931_0000	D4 9955_0000	H4 9963_0000
Table 2Y: obverse of first "Y" sheet	A1 9902_0000	E1 9910_0000	A3 9934_0000	E3 9942_0000	Table 3Y: obverses of subsequent "Y" sheets	9902_0001 through 9964_0001   9902_0002 through 9964_0002   9902_0003 through 9964_0003   et sequentia, ending with   9902_9999 through 9964_9999
	B1 9904_0000	F1 9912_0000	B3 9936_0000	F3 9944_0000
	C1 9906_0000	G1 9914_0000	C3 9938_0000	G3 9946_0000
	D1 9908_0000	H1 9916_0000	D3 9940_0000	H3 9948_0000
	A2 9918_0000	E2 9926_0000	A4 9950_0000	E4 9958_0000
	B2 9920_0000	F2 9928_0000	B4 9952_0000	F4 9960_0000
	C2 9922_0000	G2 9930_0000	C4 9954_0000	G4 9962_0000
	D2 9924_0000	H2 9932_0000	D4 9956_0000	H4 9964_0000

Second plan. The numerical part of the serial would be the same for all 64 notes in a pair of sheets, but each number would be prefixed by the two-letter abbreviation for the jurisdiction whose seal is borne on its reverse. Suffixed to the digits would be one letter signifying the Federal Reserve Bank issuing the note. In tables 4X and 4Y, "E" (for Richmond) was arbitrarily selected. For this plan, press runs can be of any convenient size.

In plate positions E4 through H4, arbitrary two-letter combinations beginning with X or Y fill the space where the jurisdiction abbreviation would go.

Table 4X: obverse of "X" sheet	A1 DE 9426_3845 E	E1 NH 9426_3845 E	A3 OR 9426_3845 E	E3 MT 9426_3845 E
	B1 NJ 9426_3845 E	F1 NY 9426_3845 E	B3 WV 9426_3845 E	F3 ID 9426_3845 E
	C1 CT 9426_3845 E	G1 RI 9426_3845 E	C3 NE 9426_3845 E	G3 UT 9426_3845 E
	D1 MD 9426_3845 E	H1 KY 9426_3845 E	D3 ND 9426_3845 E	H3 NM 9426_3845 E
	A2 OH 9426_3845 E	E2 AR 9426_3845 E	A4 AK 9426_3845 E	E4 XE 9426_3845 E
	B2 IN 9426_3845 E	F2 FL 9426_3845 E	B4 DC 9426_3845 E	F4 XF 9426_3845 E
	C2 IL 9426_3845 E	G2 IA 9426_3845 E	C4 GU 9426_3845 E	G4 XG 9426_3845 E
	D2 ME 9426_3845 E	H2 CA 9426_3845 E	D4 VI 9426_3845 E	H4 XH 9426_3845 E
Table 4Y: obverse of "Y" sheet	A1 PA 9426_3845 E	E1 VA 9426_3845 E	A3 KS 9426_3845 E	E3 WA 9426_3845 E
	B1 GA 9426_3845 E	F1 NC 9426_3845 E	B3 NV 9426_3845 E	F3 WY 9426_3845 E
	C1 MA 9426_3845 E	G1 VT 9426_3845 E	C3 CO 9426_3845 E	G3 OK 9426_3845 E
	D1 SC 9426_3845 E	H1 TN 9426_3845 E	D3 SD 9426_3845 E	H3 AZ 9426_3845 E
	A2 LA 9426_3845 E	E2 MI 9426_3845 E	A4 HI 9426_3845 E	E4 YE 9426_3845 E
	B2 MS 9426_3845 E	F2 TX 9426_3845 E	B4 PR 9426_3845 E	F4 YF 9426_3845 E
	C2 AL 9426_3845 E	G2 WI 9426_3845 E	C4 AS 9426_3845 E	G4 YG 9426_3845 E
	D2 MO 9426_3845 E	H2 MN 9426_3845 E	D4 MP 9426_3845 E	H4 YH 9426_3845 E

Colors. An obvious choice is to retain the ink colors of recent FRNs, with serial numbers and treasury seal in green, other parts of the obverse in black, and the reverse in green.

Less conventional is to have the obverses of the "X" sheets printed in black as usual, except with red serial numbers and treasury seals, and the reverse printed in blue, not the traditional green. Meanwhile, the "Y" sheets would have blue serials and treasury seals, and red backs. This way, each note would be rendered in the national colors: red and blue from the inks, and white from the paper (which itself contains tiny red and blue fibers).

"X" sheets
"Y" sheets

The use of colors other than black and green on United States currency is well precedented.

Incidental suggestion. The United States five-dollar bill as printed since 1928 has borne on its reverse an engraving of the east face of the Lincoln Memorial, on which are carved the names of only 26 out of the 50 states. With a small sacrifice of pictorial accuracy, the BEP could produce two versions of the reverse of this note, each with half of the states. At printing, each sheet of 32 notes could have 16 instances of each version, meaning that all states would be equally represented.