$$$ Dollar Sign $$$
Out of context: Reply #19
- Started
- Last post
- 34 Responses
- benfal990
History
There are various explanations for the origin of the dollar sign. The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing states that the dollar sign evolved out of the Spanish "Ps" for pesos (or "P8" piastres, pieces of eight, as one peso was made up of eight reales which is another Spanish currency). This abbreviation occured first in Mexico in 1696 and was only common in the Spanish colonies, never in Spain. The flying s then gradually moved on top of the P which became more and more of a single stroke. This sign was widely used and it is quite likely that the American Congress adopted this currency sign upon the creation of the United States Dollar in 1785. The first time that the Dollar sign appeared printed in a book and as official American Dollar sign was in »American Accomptant« by Chauncey Lee, New York 1797.Other theories say that the double-stroke dollar sign evolved out of the superimposed U and S stamped on the currency bags by the US mint. The U would have lost its bottom bow at some point.
Another possible origin are the Pillars of Hermes (Hercules). This is an ancient name of the promontories on the entrance of the straits of Gibraltar, and when King Ferdinand was able to make Gibraltar part of the Spanish estates in 1492 he adopted the symbol of the pillars of Hercules. Later, King Charles V used it in his coat of arms and the symbol in combination with two hemispheres was printed on coins made of the silver and gold that was brought from America by the counquistadores. These coins where then spread in America and Europe and the symbol adopted as a currency symbol.