Dollar Sign
The symbol $, usually written before the numerical amount, is used for the U.S. dollar (as well as for many other currencies). The sign was the result of a late 18th-century evolution of the scribal abbreviation "ps" for the peso. The p and the s eventually came to be written over each other giving rise to $.
Another popular explanation is that it comes from the Pillars of Hercules on the Spanish Coat of arms on the Spanish dollars that were minted in the New World mints in Mexico City, PotosÃ, Bolivia, and in Lima, Peru. These Pillars of Hercules on the silver Spanish dollar coins take the form of two vertical bars (||) and a swinging cloth band in the shape of an "S".
Yet another fictional explanation suggests that the dollar sign was formed from the capital letters U and S written or printed one on top of the other. This theory, popularized by novelist Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged, does not consider the fact that the symbol was already in use before the formation of the United States.
Read more about this topic: United States Dollar
Famous quotes related to dollar sign:
“You like money. You got a great big dollar sign there where most women have a heart.”
—Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)
“Johnny Clay: You like money. You got a great big dollar sign there where most women have a heart. So play it smart. Stay in character and you’ll have money. Plenty of it. George’ll have it and he’ll blow it on you. Probably buy himself a five-cent cigar.
Sherry Peatty: You don’t know me very well, Johnny. I wouldn’t think of letting George throw his money away on cigars.”
—Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)
“Commercial to the core, Elvis was the kind of singer dear to the heart of the music business. For him to sing a song was to sell a song. His G clef was a dollar sign.”
—Albert Goldman (b. 1927)