BEP offers Lucky Panda $2 note set

By Arthur L. Friedberg

Published: Jul 9, 2018, 5 AM

The BEP’s $2 Lucky Panda product consists of a red folder, with embossed gold foil and decorative Chinese symbols, holding a $2 Federal Reserve note inside that has a serial number beginning with “888.”

Original image courtesy of Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

The $2 Lucky Panda product, the newest addition to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Lucky Money Collection, will go on sale at 8 AM on July 10.

The $2 Lucky Panda comprises a red folder, with embossed gold foil and decorative Chinese symbols, holding within it a $2 Federal Reserve note that has a serial number beginning with “888.” Eight (“Ba” in Chinese) is pronounced similarly to “Fa,” the word for wealth or fortune, thus endowing it with popular symbolism among Chinese people. The BEP says the $2 Lucky Panda “symbolizes peace, harmony, and friendship.”

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Other than the special serial number, the note itself is of normal design, identical in appearance to all other $2 Federal Reserve notes that have been issued since the Series 1976 issues were released in celebration of the nation’s Bicentennial.

The panda design, Chinese symbols, and 888 serial number are features chosen to appeal to customers from certain Asian nations. The numeral 8 is considered “lucky” in some Asian cultures, hence the references to “Lucky Panda” and “Lucky Money Collection.” The BEP has issued a number of Federal Reserve note products with similar features aimed at the same audiences.

Several earlier Lucky Money issues are still available from the BEP: a “168” Prosperity Forever $1 Note in special packaging with each note bearing a serial number starting with 168, a $1 Fortune Note in special packaging with a note bearing a serial number starting with 8888, and a $1 Lucky 777 Note, also in distinctive packaging, though it contains a note with a serial number starting with 777.

Household limits on purchases

For the $2 Lucky Panda offering, the BEP is imposing a limit of 500 sets per household until July 16, after which quantity restrictions will cease. The issue limit is a maximum of 106,888 units.

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The product costs $12.88 through the online store, phone and mail, or $11.88 at the BEP’s Washington, D.C., and Fort Worth, Texas, gift shops. After July 16, bulk pricing is $11.88 each for quantities of 25 to 999, and $10.88 each for more than 1,000 units.

To purchase products from the BEP, visit here. Products may also be ordered by telephone (800-456-3408), by fax (888-891-7585), or mail (Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Mail Order Sales, 515M, 14th and C Streets, SW, Washington, DC 20228).