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When it comes to currency, the two - dollar bill is the least often seen. Featured here is the current $2 note in crisp, uncirculated condition, which shows one of America's greatest statesmen, Thomas Jefferson and the reverse depicts the scene of the signing of the Declaration of Independence** in 1776. Thomas Jefferson wished to be remembered for three achievements in his public life. He had served as governor of Virginia, as U.S. minister to France, as secretary of state under George Washington, as vice-president in the administration of John Adams, and as president of the United States from 1801 to 1809.
On his tombstone, however, which he designed and for which he wrote the inscription, there is no mention of these offices. Rather, it reads that Thomas Jefferson was "author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia" and, as he requested, "not a word more." Historians might want to add other accomplishments--for example, his distinction as an architect, naturalist, and linguist.
**Declaration of Independence, was the document proclaiming the independence of the 13 British colonies in America, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. The declaration recounted the grievances of the colonies against the British crown and declared the colonies to be free and independent states. Thomas Jefferson prepared the draft, and Adams and Benjamin Franklin made a number of minor changes to it before it was submitted to Congress. On July 4 Congress made a number of additional changes and submitted the document as the Declaration of Independence. The declaration was unanimously adopted. It is now enshrined in the National Archives Exhibition Hall, Washington, D.C. It served as a source of authority for the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States. The document's influence is evident in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, adopted by the National Assembly of France in 1789, during the French Revolution.