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simon.1711 wrote:

Hi guys,

Just wanted to check with the Vietnamese in the forum.

Is the USD 2 dollar note considered "lucky money" by Vietnamese? I heard it from a taxi driver the other day!

One of my Vietnamese friends is getting married, and I'm thinking of giving him a couple pieces. (As well as a regular gift of course!)

I was told this as well, and told a friend who was coming here for a small business venture, ( to make a doco in the near future ), to bring as many as he could, unfortunately these are not readily available in Perth, Australia, so he could only only get 20 --30 sent from the US to VN, ( before he arrived ), I'd suggested  these might smooth the way a little for him, but when he gave them to a few people, ( including some very poor farmers in a remote area ), he got that look you get from some beggars when they only get 10,000 VND. Most didn't know of this " lucky money " notion.
I told him to bring Aussie $2 coins next time, at least they look like gold.

The '$2' bill was considered 'hooker' money in some jurisdictions.

Canada has it's 'golden' $1 'Loonie' coin (so called as it has an imprint of a Loon bird on it). It's made of nickel (of which we have a lot).

There is the Canadian $2 'Toonie' a bimetallic coin of two colours. It incorporates a number of new security features including a laser mark micro-engraved maple leafs and a multi-ply plated steel planchet with a special electro-magnetic signature. The $2 coin also incorporates a virtual image and has both a lettered and partially reeded edge.

And hookers definitely are no longer satisfied with only two dollars - anywhere!

I have never seen a $2 note in the States and heard it's not popular. Why is it so plentiful outside the US?

We give them out to children during the Tet holidays as lucky money

NashCat wrote:

I have never seen a $2 note in the States and heard it's not popular. Why is it so plentiful outside the US?

If so 2$ notes have been taken to VN for Tet holiday.  It's unusual for presenting some $2 for a wedding party.

Sorry for such a late reply, you posted before I joined this forum. Yes, $2USD is considered Lucky money. My Vietnamese brother in law even gave me one for Tet once.

Indeed, the number "2" itself is considered "Lucky Number" according to my Vietnamese business partner and US$ 2 as "Lucky Money". Most Vietnamese have a note inside their wallet, that's what i heard.

For Tet holiday, YES!  But a wedding? Hmmm.. 

daCabbie wrote:

In the USA a 2$ bill is also lucky...

In America it is traditional to tear off a corner of the bill when you spend it...to keep some of its good luck....

unfortunately they haven't produced any new 2$ bills since 1995 (I think).

I'm from the U.S. and in my entire life I've never heard of a $2 bill being considered as "lucky", I have heard the exact opposite and suspect that view is far more prevalent (though generally I think most people in the U.S. don't have strong feelings about the $2 bill one way or the other and they are, as you and another poster noted, fairly rare these days) than the one you've put forward.

Well at least they are easier to spend than my $3 bills with Richard Nixon on them...

Posted that snopes link before I got to the end. Well I've always heard that $2 bills are unlucky (in the states I mean) but there is a reference down at the bottom to what you said about tearing off a corner of the bill...

"Whatever the cause, $2 bills are widely considered unlucky. For those troubled by this association, superstition offers a counter to two-dollar ill luck: tear a corner from the bill..."

Have any of you ever had any luck with getting more than your two dollars' worth for your U.S. $2 bill? I remember reading smth online about that once and thought about bringing a lot of them but then forgot about it...

Definitely considered lucky here but I have no idea why.

Nam_ wrote:

Have any of you ever had any luck with getting more than your two dollars' worth for your U.S. $2 bill? I remember reading smth online about that once and thought about bringing a lot of them but then forgot about it...

Heard last year some people were buying $2 USD for $1 mil or $500k dong. Never seen it done personally or known anyone that has done it yet.

You can buy them at most gold stores for $2.50 each

The number 2 is considered lucky, like the number 7 in "western" culture(s), so a $2 bill that's loaded with 2s would be one that would fetch the most.  How much?  40K vnd >.

There have been numerous "series" printed/released since the 1976 "rebirth" of the denomination, with the last being put into circulation in 2013-14.



Ebay has the prices of the avaiable notes in vnd.  I'm assuming that's the norm for anything on the site and the notes are collectables. 

Im from Detroit.  I always heard it was lucky.  And always felt lucky to get one.

crazy fuss wrote:

Im from Detroit.  I always heard it was lucky.  And always felt lucky to get one.

I've been to Detroit several times and always felt lucky to get out alive...

Americans don't like the $2 bill.  Don't really know why.  We love the $1 .. LOL  Maybe we can't count that high !  Many Vietnamese beleive $2 bill is lucky, especially 1976.

daveinvietnam wrote:

Definitely considered lucky here but I have no idea why.

Must be only if they are given by an American???  My Aus friend was giving a few out, and the recipients looked they had been insulted, ( that , " only $2 , ya miserable prick " look ), and these VNs hadn't done any actual work for it,  only answered a few questions.
  Maybe next time he should bring Aussie $2 " gold " coins.

Greglb wrote:

Americans don't like the $2 bill.  Don't really know why.  We love the $1 .. LOL  Maybe we can't count that high !  Many Vietnamese beleive $2 bill is lucky, especially 1976.

Everyone was " lucky " here in 1976, unless you were a patriotic Sth VN.

My uncle gave me a crisp, new $2 bill in 1976.  A few months later a family moved into the neighborhood and one of the kids was in my class.  One day there was a knock at the door and when I answered it, the sight of the blond haired angel from down the road took me by surprise.  "Do you have a little money I can borrow, so my family can buy some milk?, she asked.  "Sure, I have $2!"  I grabbed the money and gave it to her and off she went.

A few days later I asked her when she would have the $2 for me and she said - "What $2?"