Check out the number four key on your keyboard. Stamped above
it is one of the most powerful symbols in the world: the almighty
dollar sign. But the symbol doesn’t just mark the U.S. currency.
Originally — and to this day— the emblem also represents the
peso. Several Spanish-speaking countries consider it their own.
Peso literally means “weight” in Spanish. The origin of the dollar (or peso) sign is uncertain. However, the reigning theory is that
it comes from the Spanish coat of arms, which was engraved on Spanish colonial silver coins, called
Real de a Ocho, or “piece of eight.”
On the coin, there were two columns, which represented the
Pillars of Hercules, and an “S” shaped ribbon around them. Also represented on the coin was the motto p
lus ultra,
which is Latin for “further beyond.” This was added after Christopher
Columbus’ voyage to the Americas. The symbol first cropped up in
business correspondence between British North America and Mexico in the
1770s. In 1785, the U.S. adopted the currency of Spanish-Mexico. At that
time, the dollar sign and the word “dollar” gained widespread use.
Here’s a piece of trivia to impress coin enthusiasts: The dollar
symbol did not appear on U.S. currency until the $1 coin that was issued
in 2007.