The first two are quite similar. One comes to us from
the United States. A long time ago, it was common
to write US (United States) after the amount. The
dollar sign could therefore have arisen from superimposing
the U over the S. The other theory also involves a
superimposition, but this time with the word "peso."
A distorted P over the S could be another possibility.
The third theory involves the Pillars of Hercules.
In the 16th century, Emperor Charles V of Germany,
who was also King of Spain, incorporated the Pillars
as support in the new Spanish coat of arms, which
is still used today. These armorial bearings can thus
be found on all Spanish-American coins, which, from
the 16th to the 19th century, served as an international
monetary standard, like the U.S. dollar of today.
This dollar was called the "Pillar dollar."
The Pillars of Hercules were wrapped in escrolls,
forming a sort of "S" around the vertical
axis of the pillars. This could well have been the
origin of the $ sign.
At one time, the sign consisted of an "S"
with two vertical lines through it. In 1961, the Bank
of Canada began using the simplified symbol (with
just one line) in its official documents.
What is the meaning of the design of the coin?
According to Greek legend, the Pillars of Hercules
were found at the Straits of Gibraltar, the entrance
from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.
There was one pillar on each side of the straits:
one on Mount Calpe in Europe and the other on Mount
Abyla in Africa. On the escrolls was written the Latin
expression "plus ultra," meaning "further
on." Charles V also chose two globes, one representing
the New World (the Americas) and the other the Old
World (Europe). |
