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The dollar sign is a symbol primarily used to indicate a unit of Currency . The dollar symbol is the only currency mark defined in the 7-bit ASCII computer Character Set . Other character sets like Unicode contain other Currency Sign s in addition to the dollar. HISTORY 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 "Pé-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/'' for eight shilling, referring to the Spanish 8 reales coin (" Piece Of Eight "), which later became the USA dollar. Others derive it from the Portuguese Cifrão sign . Earliest usage wrote the sign with a single vertical stroke. For some time, the double-stroke symbol was common, but is now again falling out of use. ALTERNATIVE ORIGIN THEORIES There are a number of alternative origin theories, widely regarded as false, sometimes bordering on the occult. From a symbol used on the Roman sestertius That the dollar sign harks 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 (the horizontal line of the 'H' merging into the 'S'). This theory is widely discarded, in spite of the tendency of the early US to style itself after the Roman Republic ( Capitol , Senate etc.) From 'US' That $ is derived from a symbol of U superimposed on S, which was used as a mark on money bags issued by the United States Mint . The letters U and S superimposed resemble the historical double stroke "$" sign: the bottom of the 'U' disappears into the bottom curve of the 'S',leaving two vertical lines. This double stroke dollar sign has been used to refer to US Currency. This theory is not valid, because the $ symbol appeared before the USA was formed. ]] The 2 pillars in the temple of Solomon That the ''two'' vertical lines represent the two cult pillars Boaz and Jachin in the original Temple Of Solomon at Jerusalem. This theory seems to trace to the traditions of Freemasonry : some Masonic symbols appear on U.S. currency - but they did not in 1785. The 2 Pillars of Hercules, plus the 2 hemispheres of the Earth |
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