The US Mint introduced the America the Beautiful quarters this year with the first five honoring the first five states with their parks and national treasures. The first five quarters were Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Yosemite National Park in California, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona and Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon.
Today, a TV advertisement announced the release of the $2 bills honoring the nation’s parks with the first two being Yellowstone and Grand Canyon.
But, wait! These are not being released by the US Mint (the Mint does not release currency, anyway) or the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. In other words, neither of the government organizations located in the Department of the Treasury are behind the release of the colorized $2 bills for the Yellowstone and Grand Canyon National Parks.
These bills are being released by the New England Mint which is a private mint.
The bills are based on the Thomas Jefferson $2 bill which is legal US tender. But, from a numismatic perspective, these colorized bills will never be worth more than $2. They are colorful and pretty, but from a numimatic’s view, the original bill has been defaced and has lost any numismatic value.
Some coin and currency dealers sell colorized coins and currency as novelty items and not as numismatic collectibles.
If you like them and think they are worth the price, purchase them and enjoy them, but do so with the knowledge that they actually lose any numismatic collectible value.
If you like colorized money – coins or currency, buy it and enjoy it. Just don’t expect it to increase in value over time, though.