Comments on: Where the Dollar Sign Comes From

By: Where the Word “Dollar” Comes From

Where the Word “Dollar” Comes From — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 05:59:37 +0000

[...] s1);})(); Digg DiggEmbed This Quick Fact:Source: Today I Found OutClick Here to Read Where the Dollar Sign Comes FromText VersionThe name ‘dollar’ derived from the word ‘thaler’ which is an abbreviation for [...]

By: nora

nora — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 20:35:45 +0000

I’ve read research into Europe’s west African slave trade records indicate the dollar sign was used to measure the number of slaves — the dollar sign being a symbol for the shackles holding each slave.

This might be another avenue of search for the source of this symbol.

It is surprising to me that something as recent as the adoption of dollar sign should have so hazy an explanation in European/American history of symbols. Obviously a philologist (preferrably who is not a racist), needs to be put on the case of the origin of the dollar sign.

By: شنو معنى علامة $ الدولار $ ؟ | Kumail+

شنو معنى علامة $ الدولار $ ؟ | Kumail+ — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 12:15:48 +0000

[...] Today I Found Out [...]

By: Michael Wilkes

Michael Wilkes — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 22:18:46 +0000

I too heard a story in Spain that the “US dollar sign” (with two vertical bars) comes from the spanish flag’s depiction of the pillars of hercules, and an entwined ribbon/banner that read “non plus ultra” meaning there is nothing beyond.

With the discovery of the new world, it made sense to simply drop the “non” and come up with “plus ultra” meaning there is always more (and thus fitting for the capitalist expansion that followed, consuming the world’s resources at an alarming rate of course).

By: Nadia

Nadia — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:02:43 +0000

The dollar sign was derived from the Rod of asclepios(It is also known as the asklepian):An ancient symbol associated with astrology, the Greek god Asclepius, and with medicine and healing.It consists of a serpent entwined around a staff. The symbol represents the healing and life giving power of the serpent.(Genesis 3:1-6)

By: Wiseman

Wiseman — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 08:27:56 +0000

All symbols in the finance world comes from esoteric sources and is never coincidences.

The dollar sign is a contraction of the name of godess Isis. You also then have the represenation in Venus, which is again represented by the color green, which gives the dollar bill its color.

By: FM

FM — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 08:05:10 +0000

I was led to believe that the Dollar was originally called the Simoleon before it became the latter name and that the stroke or strokes were added to denote it was a currency symbol and more importantly, to separate it away from the alphabetical letter “S” to avoid confusion.

By: Rattus

Rattus — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 05:14:45 +0000

The prediction about the US population is that spanish will be the language spoken by the majority in the USA by 2050, so maybe the Peso will replace the dollar anyway.

By: Daven

Daven — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 22:43:02 +0000

It seems logical, but primary documents from the age show it is from the PS in Pesos as explained in the article.

By: Bhalper

Bhalper — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:52:04 +0000

Old US postage stamps from the late 1800′s have a U superimposed on top of an S.

It honestly seems a little backwards for the symbol for the Peso to be modified and adopted throughout the US when original colonies were all English. Shortening the superimposed “US” to the single stroke dollar sign seems much more logical.