I was browsing some news about our tanking economy today when I suddenly asked myself– why is the American dollar symbolized by “$“? Here is the answer, according to Wikipedia:
The sign is attested in business correspondence between British North America and Mexico in the 1770s, as referring to the Spanish-Mexican peso.[1] 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. Interestingly, the first instance of the symbol on U.S.A. currency is on the reverse of a $1 coin first issued in February 2007, under the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005.[2]
The sign’s ultimate origins are not certain,[3] though it is widely accepted that it comes from the Spanish coat of arms, which carries the two Pillars of Hercules and the motto Plus Ultra in the shape of an “S”.
The most popular explanation is that the dollar sign derives from the Spanish coat of arms engraved on the Spanish colonial silver coins “Real de a Ocho” (“piece of eight”) or Spanish dollar under circulation in the Spanish colonies of America and Asia, as well as in the English Thirteen Colonies and later the U.S. and Canada.
The Pillars of Hercules with "S"-shaped ribbon in the Town Hall of Seville, (Spain) (16th century) Image from Wikipedia
The Spanish coat of arms has two columns (||), which represent the Pillars of Hercules and an “S”-shaped ribbon around each, with the motto “Non Plus Ultra” originally, and later “Plus Ultra”.[4]
In 1492, King Ferdinand II of Aragon put Gibraltar under the new joined rule of the Spanish throne. He adopted the symbol of the Pillars of Hercules and added the Latin phrase Non plus ultra – meaning “and nothing further”, indicating “[this is] the end of the (known) world”. But as Christopher Columbus in 1492 travelled to the Americas, the saying was changed to Plus Ultra – as there was more out there.[5] This symbol was especially adopted by Charles V and was a part of his coat of arms as a symbol of his American possessions and riches. When the Spanish conquistadores found gold and silver in the New World, Charles V’s symbol was stamped on the coins made from these metals. These coins with the Pillars of Hercules over two hemispheres (columnarios) were spread around America and Europe, and the symbol was ultimately adopted by the country that became the United States and by many of the continent’s other independent nations. Later on, salesmen wrote signs that, instead of saying dollar, had this handwritten symbol, and in turn this developed to the simple S with two vertical bars.
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