What is the origination of the dollar sign?

Question

Where did this symbol come from? $$$

Answer 1

Many suggestions have been made about the origin of the dollar symbol $, one of the commonest being it symbolizes a 'U' super imposed over an 'S', or that it derives from the figure 8, representing the Spanish 'piece of eight'. However, it actually derives 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 dealing with Spanish-Americans, and it starts to appear in print after 1800.



The name 'dollar', however, derives from the Dutch or Low German word daler (in German taler or thaler) - originally Joachimstaler, referring to a coin from the silver mines of Joachimstal, in Bohemia (now Jáchymov in the Czech Republic), which opened in 1516.



Hope this clears it up for you.

Answer 2

When asking a question like this, go to the Straight Dope by Cecil Adams, who says:



Professor Cajori dealt with this question definitively more than 60 years ago in A History of Mathematical Notations--not the ideal beach book, maybe, but one I heartily commend nonetheless.

snip



Professor Cajori contends that the dollar sign is an abbreviation for "pesos." Bear in mind that the Spanish dollar, also known as the peso de 8 reales, was the principal coin in circulation in the U.S. up until 1794, when we began minting our own dollars. In handwriting, "pesos" was usually abbreviated lowercase "ps," with S above and to the right of the P and with the hook on the latter written with one or two deep strokes. As time went on, the P and the S tended to get mashed together and the result was $.



More details at the citation.

Answer 3

It is sometimes said that the dollar sign's origin is a narrow

"U" superimposed over a wide "S", "U.S." being short for "United

States." This is wrong, and the correct explanation also tells why

the $ sign is used both for dollars and for pesos in various

countries. The explanation is not widely known, maybe because not

many people would think to look for it in a book called A History

of Mathematical Notations, Volume II: Notations Mainly in Higher

Mathematics by Florian Cajori (published in 1929 and reprinted in

1952, by Open Court Press). Cajori acknowledges the "U.S." theory

and a number of others, but, after examining many 18th-century

manuscripts, finds that there is simply no evidence to support those theories.

Answer 4

The sign is attested in business correspondence between British North America and Mexico in the 1770s as referring to the Spanish-Mexican piastre. The piastre was known as "Spanish dollar" in British North America, and in 1785, it was adopted as U.S. currency, together with both the term "dollar" and the $ sign.



The sign's ultimate origins are not certain. The most widely accepted explanation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, is that "$" is a corruption of the letters "PS" or "PS" (for 'peso' or 'piastre' - especially the former, as each letter could represent each syllable of "Pe-So") written over each other in Spanish. Eventually, the 'P' was reduced to a vertical line.



Another possibility is that it derives from the British notation 8 / 1 for eight shillings to one dollar, referring to the Spanish 8 reales coin ("piece of eight"), which later became the USA dollar. Others derive it from the Portuguese Cifrão sign.



Still another explanation holds that the dollar sign is derived from (or at least inspired by) the mint mark on Spanish colonial silver coins ("real" or "piece of eight") that were minted in Potosí (in present day Bolivia). The mint mark was composed of the letters "PTSI" superimposed on one another, and bears an undeniable resemblance to the single-stroke dollar sign . The Potosí mine is generally accepted as having been the largest single silver strike in history. Silver coins minted in Potosí would have been in common use in colonial America, and its mint mark widely recognized.

Answer 5

Originally it was a U and an S superimposed for United States, but evenutually the bottom curve was dropped.

Answer 6

Oliver Pollack invented the dollar sign. He's buried in Woodville, MS.

Answer 7

british term, started as "Spain's Dollar", opt Pe So, back when Britain was traing with Spanish Mexico, got shorter and shorter, S Dollar or p SO, then it became $