Description and research notes
This 1976 Bicentennial Issue 2 Dollars Federal Reserve Note from the Richmond District (Friedberg 1935-E, EA Block) bears a hand-applied courtesy autograph by Treasurer of the United States Francine Neff. Her signature links the note directly to the U.S. Treasury during one of the most visible national celebrations in American history—the Bicentennial of Independence.
The Bicentennial of 1976 marked two hundred years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It was not a single day but a coordinated year-long program of events, parades, museum exhibitions, and national symbolism. Every federal agency participated. The Treasury chose to revive the long-dormant $2 denomination as its contribution to the festivities, creating the first and only circulating paper-money commemorative in United States history. By re-introducing the Jefferson note, the government hoped to give every citizen an affordable keepsake of the nation’s 200th birthday—a piece of the celebration that could pass through ordinary hands.
Released on April 13 1976, Thomas Jefferson’s birthday, the new note featured the familiar portrait of Jefferson on the face but carried an entirely re-engraved reverse: John Trumbull’s 1818 painting *The Signing of the Declaration of Independence*. The green Treasury seal replaced the red of the earlier Legal Tender issues, signifying the shift to Federal Reserve backing. Across the country, banks and post offices issued fresh notes with special “First Day of Issue” postmarks; people queued for hours to buy and cancel them, then tucked them away as souvenirs of the Bicentennial rather than spending them. Those saved notes, never circulated, survive today as crisp, perfectly preserved witnesses to the event.
Francine Neff, Treasurer from 1974 to 1977, personally signed a limited number of these Bicentennial notes for collectors, visiting dignitaries, and Bureau of Engraving and Printing guests. Each autograph transforms an already symbolic issue into a document of human participation in the nation’s anniversary celebration.
Certified PMG 66 EPQ Gem Uncirculated, this specimen displays luminous paper brightness, precise centering, and bold pen inscription. It is both a numismatic rarity and a cultural artifact—the Treasury’s own memento of the United States Bicentennial, literally signed by the official whose printed name it bears.