Etymology From Middle English Thomme. Hypocorism of Thomas. The dollar-bill sense is from the portrait of Thomas Jefferson featured on it.
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Abbreviation, Ellipsis, Uncommon Ellipsis of Uncle Tom.
I thought it was nice for them [civil rights volunteers] to come in here. But they wasn’t welcome among white people. The black people welcomed them with open arms, but they wasn’t welcomed by the white people. And the churches began to burn: Everetts Chapel and Union Hill. I’ll be honest and tell you the truth, I was a little afraid sometimes, depending on where the meeting was. It looked like the group was pushing forward and I didn’t want to be a “Tom.”2007 April, Roy DeBerry, Aviva Futorian, Stephen Klein, John Lyons, quoting Jessie Mae Epps, “Beginnings”, in Voices from the Mississippi Hill Country: The Benton County Civil Rights Movement, Jackson, Miss.: University Press of Mississippi, published 2020, →ISBN, page 8:
Toms: two-dollar bills bearing the portrait of President Thomas Jefferson[1981, Ralph DeSola, Abbreviations Dictionary, expanded international 6th edition, New York, N.Y.: Elsevier, →ISBN, page 804, column 2:
The article on CNN.com says the Treasury has $96 million in $2s in their vaults. They are printing new ones just to assure a supply. The new ones will be 2003 series with the same design as now. Printing more will have no direct effect on whether they circulate more, but articles like the recent ones will make people aware that they are still available. I'm picking up another strap of Toms tomorrow, hopefully crisp new - at least that what I asked the vault teller to order.2003 June 12, PossumTrot, “Treasury to Print More $2 Bills:)”, in rec.collecting.paper-money (Usenet), archived from the original on 22 Jun 2025:
4 more examples
In the past year I've spent over 2000 Toms with 90% used to well used. I have only seen a dozen or so with torn corners, almost always the upper left corner.2003 August 29, rhodo chrosite, “2 dollar bills”, in rec.collecting.paper-money (Usenet), archived from the original on 22 Jun 2025:
> I've listed some goodies on eBay. Some 1999 Two BEP bundles (including a Star bundle > with the striped wrapper) and a 2003 Two BEP bundle with a neat serial number. Whoops, you mean '95 Toms2003 December 25, DyzeeGF3, “[FA] 1995 Star Twos and other goodies”, in rec.collecting.paper-money (Usenet), archived from the original on 22 Jun 2025:
Join the discussion on www.wheresgeorge.com and then join the "Top Toms" club.2007 May 10, Fred Shecter, “A Teller That Likes $2 Bills :)”, in rec.collecting.paper-money (Usenet), archived from the original on 22 Jun 2025:
A two-dollar bill is sometimes referred to as a “deuce” or a “Tom.”[2023, Thomas S. Hischak, “Chicago”, in Broadway Decoded: Musical Theatre’s Forgotten References, Lanham, Md.: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, →ISBN, page 51:
“I'd like sausage, eggs, bacon, toms, mushies, beans – oh, and some fried bread,” said Mike.2009, Mark Penny, Jonathan Penny, The Golden Pig, page 160:
Tom
noun
Etymology Variant of TOM (“time of the month”) influenced by the name.