Ever laid awake at night wondering where that thing came from and what its componenents mean? Our founding fathers were very spiritual and symbol-driven, and this is no exception.| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Theory on the origins of the various dollar symbols "$" |
| 2010-09-26 |
| Ever laid awake at night wondering where that thing came from and what its componenents mean? Our founding fathers were very spiritual and symbol-driven, and this is no exception. |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #5 Take a U and overlay it on an S and you have something very like the two-stroke version of the $. *shrug* |
| Posted by: eLarson 2010-09-26 20:19 |
| #4 I think the pieces of eight origin is most likely, since we know that influenced other ways we talk about money. (Why is a quarter "two bits"? Because two pieces of a piece-of-eight is a quarter of the whole.) |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2010-09-26 19:08 |
| #3 When I was young and believed in such things, the "$" was in memory of the snaked-staff of the Celts who were driven from Ireland by the great warrior/christian Patrick in return for a sainthood. Another similar mythical reference is the Rod of Asclepius, a son of Apollo and a great healer.  ...and the torah has Moses leading something of a snake cult for which he mounted a bronze snake on a staff. By gazing upon it, the followers of Moses were healed of snakebite.  Sorry. A slow Sunday. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2010-09-26 16:49 |
| #2 Ditto #1, Maybe this is a history rewrite. |
| Posted by: Dale 2010-09-26 16:15 |
| #1 I was always taught that the $ was done with two strokes, not one. The cent symbol was done with one stroke. ¢ like that. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2010-09-26 15:57 |