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2 Dollars 2003, Serie A, United States of America

in Krause book Number: 516
Years of issue: 2003
Edition:
Signatures: Secretary of Treasury: John W. Snow, Treasurer: Anna Escobedo Cabral
Serie: 2003 Issue
Specimen of: 1976
Material: 75 % Cotton, 25 % Linen
Size (mm): 156 х 66
Printer: Bureau of Engraving and Printing, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Washington, D.C.

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2 Dollars 2003, Serie A

Description

Watermark:

Avers:

2 Dollars 2003, Serie A

Thomas Jefferson

The portrait of the third President of USA Thomas Jefferson made by Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

Thomas Jefferson (April 13 [O.S. April 2] 1743 - July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the third President of the United States (1801-1809). He was a spokesman for democracy and the rights of man with worldwide influence. At the beginning of the American Revolution, he served in the Continental Congress, representing Virginia and then served as a wartime Governor of Virginia (1779-1781). Just after the war ended, from mid-1784 Jefferson served as a diplomat, stationed in Paris. In May 1785, he became the United States Minister to France.

Left from the portrait is a seal of the one of the banks, member of the United Federal Reserve System.

Right from the portrait is a seal of the USA Ministry of Finance.

In the seal are scales, symbolizing justice, a field with 13 stars (the number of the first states), the key and the year 1789 - the year of foundation of the ministry. Seals are located under the facsimile signatures of the Chiefs of Federal Reserve and Treasury, respectively.

Denominations in numerals are in all corners. In words lower.

Revers:

2 Dollars 2003, Serie A

Declaration independence

The engraving on banknote is made after the painting by John Trumbull, 1817-1819.

John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence is a 12-by-18-foot oil-on-canvas painting in the United States Capitol Rotunda that depicts the presentation of the draft of the Declaration of Independence to Congress. It was based on a much smaller version of the same scene, presently held by the Yale University Art Gallery. Trumbull painted many of the figures in the picture from life and visited Independence Hall as well to depict the chamber where the Second Continental Congress met. The oil-on-canvas work was commissioned in 1817, purchased in 1819, and placed in the rotunda in 1826.

The painting is sometimes incorrectly described as the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In fact, the painting actually shows the five-man drafting committee presenting their draft of the Declaration to the Congress, an event that took place on June 28, 1776, and not the signing of the document, which took place later.

The painting shows 42 of the 56 signers of the Declaration; Trumbull originally intended to include all 56 signers, but was unable to obtain likenesses for all of them. He also decided to depict several participants in the debate who did not sign the document, including John Dickinson, who declined to sign. Trumbull also had no portrait of Benjamin Harrison V to work with; son Benjamin Harrison VI was said to have resembled his father, so he was painted instead. Because the Declaration was debated and signed over a period of time when membership in Congress changed, the men in the painting had never all been in the same room at the same time.

Thomas Jefferson seems to be stepping on the foot of John Adams in the painting, which many think is supposed to symbolize their relationship as political enemies. However, upon closer examination of the painting, it can be seen that their feet are merely close together. This part of the image was correctly depicted on the two-dollar bill version.

An inscription: "In God we trust" is at the bottom.

"In God We Trust" is the official motto of the United States. It was adopted as the nation's motto in 1956 as an alternative or replacement to the unofficial motto of E pluribus unum, which was adopted when the Great Seal of the United States was created and adopted in 1782. Many people have expressed objections to its use, and have sought to have the religious reference removed from the currency, claiming that it violates the First Amendment.

"In God we trust" first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864 and has appeared on paper currency since 1957. A law passed in a Joint Resolution by the 84th Congress (P.L. 84-140) and approved by President Dwight Eisenhower on July 30, 1956 declared "IN GOD WE TRUST" must appear on currency. This phrase was first used on paper money in 1957, when it appeared on the one-dollar silver certificate. The first paper currency bearing the phrase entered circulation on October 1, 1957.

Denominations in numerals are in all corners. In words on right and left sides and in lower corners.

Comments:

Banknote issued in circulation by the branch of Federal Reserve in Richmond, VA.