As curiosity would have it, my search for the origin of the $ symbol began after meditating on Vince Reeds profile picture on Facebook. Here is the continuing elaboration on the meanings listed through the ages.
Derivation
The dollar sign is said to have been derived from a slash through the numeral eight, denoting pieces of eight. The Oxford English Dictionary before 1963 held that this was the most probable explanation, though later editions have placed it in doubt.
The dollar sign was derived from or inspired by the mint mark on the Spanish pieces of eight that were minted in Potosí (in present day Bolivia). The mint mark, composed of the letters “PTSI” superimposed, bears a strong resemblance to the single-stroke dollar sign. The mark, which appeared on silver coins minted from 1573 to 1825 in Potosí, the largest mint during the colonial period, would have been widely recognized throughout the North American colonies.
Greek Mythology
The dollar sign may have also originated from Hermes, the Greek god of bankers, thieves, messengers, and tricksters: Besides the crane, one of his symbols was the caduceus, a staff from which ribbons or snakes dangled in a sinuous curve.
Monogram for the U.S. Mint
The $ is a monogram of U. S., used on money bags issued by the United States Mint. The letters U and S superimposed resemble the historical double stroke dollar sign $ the bottom of the ‘U’ disappears into the bottom curve of the ‘S’, leaving two vertical lines. This theory does not consider the fact that the symbol was already in use before the formation of the United States. One company utilizing U.S. Minted coins is Numis Network This is a U.S. based MLM Company which markets M70 coins, made by the U.S. Mint. The U.S. coin market is a sleeper industry selling $10 billion a year, and $10 billion a year worldwide. Entrepreneurs searching for gold are finding this sleeper industry a gold mine, this minted train market, chugging along as a fast pace.
Atlas Shrugged Philosophy
The book Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand includes a section where the main characters philosophize about the United States being the only nation to ever use its own monogram for it currency symbol. They suggest it means that the country had always been primarily concerned with the creation of wealth.
“Unit of silver”- Derivation
That it derives from “unit of silver”, each unit being one “bit” of the “pieces of eight”. Before the American Revolution, prices were often quoted in units of the Spanish dollar. According to this theory, when a price was quoted the capital ‘S’ was used to indicate silver with a capital ‘U’ written on top to indicate units. Eventually the capital ‘U’ was replaced by double vertical hash marks.
Biblical Understanding
That it derives from the symbol used on a German Thaler. According to Ovason (2004), on one type of thaler one side showed the crucified Christ while the other showed a serpent hanging from a cross, the letters NU near the serpent’s head, and on the other side of the cross the number 21. This refers to the Bible, Numbers, Chapter 21.
Later History
That the dollar sign goes back to the most important Roman coin, the sestertius, which had the letters ‘HS’ as its currency sign. When superimposed these letters form a dollar sign with two vertical strokes.
According to a plaque in St Andrews, Scotland, the dollar sign was first cast into type at a foundry in Philadelphia, United States in 1797 by the Scottish immigrant John Baine.
The dollar sign did not appear on U.S. coinage until February 2007, when it was used on the reverse of a $1 coin authorized by the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005. The dollar sign appears on the reverse of the 1934 $100,000 note as well as the reverse of the 1917 $1 note.
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Numis Network utilizes minted dollar coins and has become the first MLM dealing in M70’s silver and gold coins. For More information on the history of coinage and more articles on gold and silver, see NumisRichGold.
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