Who invented dollar sign

Fahrenheit F and cents c are equally intuitive. In one popular origin story, the dollar sign started as a U on top of an S, as shorthand for "United States.

Later it was simplified to only one line. Makes sense, right? One of the most esoteric origin stories links it back to the Bohemian thaler, which featured a serpent on a Christian cross. Yet another version centres on the Pillars of Hercules, a phrase conjured up by the Ancient Greeks to describe the promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar.

The most widely accepted theory does in fact involve Spanish coinage, and it goes like this: in the colonies, trade between Spanish Americans and English Americans was lively, and the peso, or peso de ocho reales, was legal tender in the US until But regardless of how it came to be, it is certainly an American invention: he may not have been its sole creator, but the correspondence of Irish-born Oliver Pollock, a wealthy trader and early supporter of the American Revolution, has led him to be often cited by historians as its originator.

Of course, if you really want to tumble down a rabbit hole of mysterious symbolism, try looking into the origins of the design of the American dollar bill. Eye of Providence , anybody? Rewarded by the Governor-General of New Orleans with free trading rights throughout the Louisiana Territory, Pollock quickly became extraordinarily wealthy, mostly by trading among the ports of New Orleans, Havana, and other locales throughout the West Indies. An early supporter of British colonial resistance to the policies of the home country, and always angling for ways to boost his fortune, Pollock was in an advantageous position to help the colonists when their protests became full-scale revolt.

The American revolutionaries desperately needed money to pay for war against the British military, and while the French and Spanish governments offered financial assistance, Pollock both personally donated several hundred thousand Spanish pesos and organized a bond issue to raise funds in New Orleans.

In , Congress appointed Pollock as the official representative of the United States in that city, and most of the money Pollock contributed and raised went to finance the successful military campaign of George Rogers Clark in against British forces and their Indian allies in what are now Illinois and Indiana. Pollock had anticipated that his efforts in support of the Revolution would yield both profit and political influence, but instead he found himself drowning in debt when the war ended. Not only had he contributed a great deal of his personal funds, but he had also renegotiated the bond issue he had organized in a way that made him personally responsible for paying off the bonds.

When creditors came calling for their money, Pollock had no choice but to declare bankruptcy in No documentary evidence exists to support this theory, however, and it seems clear the dollar sign was already in use by the time the United States was formed. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you.