Lib Bill

When Congress reassembles next month for its postvacation session, New York Republican Seymour Halpern plans to introduce a bill providing for the reissuance of the $2 bill, which was discontinued in 1965. Thomas Jefferson's face used to adorn the bill, but Halpern will propose substituting the stern, ascetic profile of Susan B. Anthony, the matriarch of Women's Liberation. Halpern's idea has the endorsement of 32 co-sponsors in the House, 16 Governors and 22 women's organizations, including the 5,000,000-member National Council of Women of the U.S. and even the International Association of Women Police.

While it may be admirable to commemorate the women's rights movement by giving it such currency, the $2 bill has a somewhat unsavory history. It once symbolized bought political votes, was a favorite of counterfeiters who liked to turn it into a $20 bill, and often spent much of its time at the race track. In a dim, pre-inflationary time, it was widely favored as the medium of exchange at bawdy houses.

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