Origin of the $ Sign

I used to get a newsletter from a Mr. McMaster where he would go over a lot of different topics of an economic and investment nature. In one issue he discussed the origin of the dollar or "$" sign as having origin in the symbol for "SATAN".

Thank God for Wikipedia that completely dispells this idea:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_sign

Instead, the best idea is that it originated from the symbol for the gates of Hercules with a ribbon around it.

Anyone with a contrary opinion is welcome to post that here.

 

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Many suggestions have been made about the origin of the dollar symbol $, one of the commonest being that it derives from the figure 8, representing the Spanish 'piece of eight'. However, it actually comes from a handwritten 'ps', an abbreviation for 'peso' in old Spanish-American books. The $ symbol first occurs in the 1770s, in manuscript documents of English-Americans who had business dealings with Spanish-Americans, and it starts to appear in print after 1800.
The word 'dollar' itself derives from the Flemish or Low German word daler (in German taler or thaler), short for Joachimstaler, referring to a coin from the silver mines of Joachimstal, in Bohemia (now Jáchymov in the Czech Republic). The term was later applied to a coin used in the Spanish-American colonies and also in the British North American colonies at the time of the American War of Independence. It was adopted as the name of the US currency unit in the late 18th century.http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/91

 

Actually, the dollar sign came into vogue in the years leading to the Revolutionary War when the tax collectors of King George were required to post his taxation proclamations in the cities, towns and villages of the colonies in prominent places for everyone to read. These sites also became sources of information posted from the other colonies, sort of like a "Colonial Blog". Being considerate of the religious beliefs of many of the colonists, the people who posted such information did not want to offend the moral values of the families, so their responses to the King's taxation proclamations were very short and simple..........$crew you!

Chris

 

The $ Sign carries with it many accounts of it's orign. One of the widely accepted explanations is that as the result of the evolution of the Mexican or Spanish "Pieces" of Eight. In theroy, derived from the study of old manuscripts, is that the "S" gradually came to be written over the "P" thus developing a close equivalent of the "$" mark. It was widely used before the adoption of the United States Dollar in 1785.

Source: Small Size U.S. Paper Money; Schwartz/Lindquist

 

now see the story that I had heard is that you overlay a U and an S (US) and you got our dollar sign with 2 upright Is

 

Interesting accounts of " Origin " . They all seem very plausible . Personally, I lean more toward the " Gates of Hercules " concept.

 

Very Interesting points!

 

Whatever the source the dollar sign goes before the numeral, not after.

$1 - right

1$ - wrong

 

Note that in Portugal the cifrão (a $ sign with two vertical lines) always went after the numeral, as it was supposed to separate the escudos and centavos. For example, "20$00" would be 20 escudos.

Christian

 

You didn't care for my theory? LOL!

I think yours is the most logical. Thanks for that tidbit, Doug!

Chris

 

Doug:

The reference I used is talking about the same thing almost...I have read many therioes and found this to be the most widely accepted.
In your example the "P" is over the "S"

 

It'
s fun to consider all the possibilities, but of course the logic of the " Pieces of Eight " weighs in far better .

 

I like your theory Doug

 

It actually dates back as far as the time of the Knights Templar.

You know how a roommate would signal their other roommate(s) that the apartment was in use for sex with a significant other by putting a necktie on the doorknob?

Well the Knights Templar used this symbol on the entry to their vault where they kept their treasure, it meant for others to not come into the vault because they were counting their money. The slash down through the S was a warning to those who would ignore this sign and entered anyway, they would wind up being run through by an Excalibur.

Or it's what GD posted

 

Thanks Owl, live and learn. Now I know "The Rest of the Story""Good day"

 

There's more than a few tales . I love hearing all of them .

 

This was always my understanding as well. The good ole U.S.of.A has always been known to take the best of the world and make it there own. The influence and creation probably came from many sources but WAS originally written as a "U" with an "S" over it. There are many and widely known examples of this. Later it was shortened to what we now know as
$, the dollar symbol.

 

Actually your theory is up on the Wikipedia page with a pic of 1768 coin.