The Dollar Sign

1909

A Theory as to the Origin of This Monetary Symbol

The origin of the dollar mark is one of the curios of our financial history.

In the early days of the nation, there was utter confusion in the circulating medium. Several of the colonies had authorized coins of different denominations, and, besides these, there were English pence, shillings, crowns and half crowns; French coins brought from Europe and Canada; Spanish coins of half a dozen denominations, especially reals and doubloons; Mexican coins; in Pennsylvania Dutch and German pieces, and along the coast Portuguese and even Italian money was often seen, brought by seamen.

The United States mint was established in 1791, and the United States coinage became, of course, the legal tender. The mixed coinage, however, was not at once displaced, but continued in local use, so that it became necessary for merchants in keeping accounts to designate that a bill was to be paid in United States currency, or, if in miscellaneous coins, these were received at a discount. So before the sum total of the bills the merchant was accustomed to write the letters "U. S.," signifying United States money. In the hurry of writing the "S" was often written over the "U;" then the connecting line at the bottom easily dropped off, and to the present day most people unconsciously commemorate the original practice by making the two down strokes first, then adding the "S."