Why is the U.S. Dollar's sign the $ sign?

[dt]

Well, you might consider this a weird question. But where did the $ symbol, which symbolizes the U.S. Dollar, come from? What relation does an S with a line through it have with the word "dollar"? The word "dollar" has no letter S in it. Am I missing something here?

[IlliniPi]

http://www.myvesta.org/history/history_symbol.htm

:yes:

[salis]

hmm very interesting indeed...

[Fred Derf Veteran]

Well, you might consider this a weird question. But where did the $ symbol, which symbolizes the U.S. Dollar, come from? What relation does an S with a line through it have with the word "dollar"? The word "dollar" has no letter S in it. Am I missing something here?

585795602[/snapback]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%24#The_dollar_sign

One used to see the dollar sign with two vertical lines much more commonly but now it's a rarity. I guess the computer keyboard (with the single vertical line) killed it.

[pre]

Wow... thanks that is interesting! :)

[zhangm Supervisor]

I was once taught to write it with two ||s. Yeah, the second line did vanish, coinciding with increasing popularity of computers. Come to think of it, it makes more sense to use a single line, as the symbol for the cent only uses one.

[Favvi]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%24#The_dollar_sign

One used to see the dollar sign with two vertical lines much more commonly but now it's a rarity. I guess the computer keyboard (with the single vertical line) killed it.

585795617[/snapback]

ive always used 2 lines. :)

:unsure: never even noticed computers used the single line, lol.. until not what is.

[pre]

I was once taught to write it with two ||s.  Yeah, the second line did vanish, coinciding with increasing popularity of computers.  Come to think of it, it makes more sense to use a single line, as the symbol for the cent only uses one.

585795634[/snapback]

my keyboard has the single line, and most fonts on my computer use the single line too eg: $ :happy:

[Fred Derf Veteran]

ive always used 2 lines. :)

:unsure: never even noticed computers used the single line, lol.. until not what is.

585795648[/snapback]

What is the origin of the dollar sign?

No one knows the exact origin of this symbol, but we have three very plausible theories.

The first two are quite similar. One comes to us from the United States. A long time ago, it was common to write US (United States) after the amount. The dollar sign could therefore have arisen from superimposing the U over the S. The other theory also involves a superimposition, but this time with the word "peso." A distorted P over the S could be another possibility.

The third theory involves the Pillars of Hercules. In the 16th century, Emperor Charles V of Germany, who was also King of Spain, incorporated the Pillars as support in the new Spanish coat of arms, which is still used today. These armorial bearings can thus be found on all Spanish-American coins, which, from the 16th to the 19th century, served as an international monetary standard, like the U.S. dollar of today.

This dollar was called the "Pillar dollar." The Pillars of Hercules were wrapped in escrolls, forming a sort of "S" around the vertical axis of the pillars. This could well have been the origin of the $ sign.

At one time, the sign consisted of an "S" with two vertical lines through it. In 1961, the Bank of Canada began using the simplified symbol (with just one line) in its official documents.

http://www.currencymuseum.ca/eng/learning/faq4.php

[emo]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%24#The_dollar_sign

One used to see the dollar sign with two vertical lines much more commonly but now it's a rarity. I guess the computer keyboard (with the single vertical line) killed it.

585795617[/snapback]

wow, interesting.