Paper Money Market: Where is the 250th Commemorative Bank Note?
The U.S. has unveiled its 250th coins, but where’s the bank note to match—and the chance to reach a wider audience?
Specially designed 2026 semiquincentennial coins ranging from the cent to dollar denomination were recently unveiled by the U.S. Treasury Department. Collectors will love them. Hopefully, so will the general public. This matters since we hope to welcome some of these non-collectors into the fold, using these special coins to grab their attention. This is a good way to get people looking at their change.
What’s missing here is that people don’t necessarily carry change anymore. If they carry cash, it is more likely to be in dollar bills. This brings me to my point. At the time this commentary is being written, there is no 250th anniversary bank note. We issued a $2 bank note with a fresh vignette on the back about the time of the U.S. Bicentennial.
Granted, this $2 wasn’t officially meant to be a commemorative, but people treated it that way. Why isn’t there a bank note of some denomination issued to complement the coins and mark the semiquincentennial? It’s a lot cheaper to print bank notes than to mint metal coins. The note can be, but doesn’t have to be, a commemorative.
Commemorative bank notes are nothing new worldwide. A quick search identifies 28 countries that have issued commemorative bank notes. Canada’s first such note was issued in 1935 and uses the odd denomination of $25. This is the only time Canada has ever issued a note in that denomination. Further research will likely indicate Canada wasn’t the first to issue commemoratives. Perhaps this observation comes too late, but it appears we are missing an important opportunity here.
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