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    Private Atkinson’s War

    Private Edward Atkinson’s example of trench art is what is called a “love token”—a souvenir made from a coin. It’s one man’s personal wartime experience expressed through a pocket-sized medium.

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    Trading Up: How Countries Benefit from Free Trade

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    The new bank note featuring Viola Desmond provides an excellent opportunity to teach about the concept of historical significance.

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How Does $ = Dollar?

By: Graham Iddon


April 1, 2019

The origins of the dollar sign—or not

The dollar sign is so familiar to us that it’s like another letter of the alphabet. But when you stop to look at “$” as a symbol, it doesn’t make much sense (please excuse the pun).

$50,000 denomination from antique bank notes

A “rosette” from a Dominion of Canada bank legal: a bank note exchanged only between chartered banks.
$50,000, Canada, 1918 NCC 1975.133.0

How on earth did an “S” with a line or two through it come to represent a dollar? Any ideas? No? That’s OK, you’re in good company. Because the truth is, nobody really knows.

But there are a few interesting theories out there. Some seem like conspiracies, others suggest mere accidents of the handwritten word. Most are very plausible, but the one thing they all share is a stubborn unprovability. They all seem to come with a shrug attached.

Canadian bank note, allegory of harvest

It is very uncommon for Canadian bank notes to ever carry a “$”. This is an early government bond, a fundraising tool and not exactly a bank note. 1 dollar, debenture, Canada, 1859 NCC 1974.169.30

The American theories

Some say that the dollar sign developed from an abbreviation used on the money bags of the young United States Mint. The letter “U” was superimposed over the “S,” and it takes little imagination to turn that into a dollar sign.

a “U” superimposed over an “S”

Other historians support the notion that the symbol was first used in documents by two American revolutionary patriots and financiers, Robert Morris and Oliver Pollock. But Pollock and Morris were not writing about the American dollar. They were referring to one of the few hard currencies available to revolutionary Americans, the Spanish-American silver peso—which was also known as a “dollar.” This leads us to our next theory.

The peso theory

Probably the most widely supported theory out there is related to the Spanish-American peso. It was another name for the big, silver 8 reales coin, also known as the piece of eight or dollar.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Spanish-American coins were the most trusted currency in the world. In documents such as those authored by Morris and Pollock, the peso was sometimes represented as PS or Ps. The two letters began to be written over each other until the P became a mere vertical stroke through the S. There is also a theory that the piece of eight was represented as a P overlaid on an 8, resulting in a similar visual coincidence.

old coin with Spanish coat of arms

The famous piece of eight, was also called a dollar because of its similar size and weight to the German thalers used in Europe. 8 reales, Spain (Mexico), 1761 NCC 2000.40.305

an “S” overlaid on a “P”

The Portuguese theory

When is a dollar sign not a dollar sign? When it’s a cifrão. A symbol used on currencies from Portugal and its colonies, the cifrão was used in a very curious way. Though it appears to be a dollar sign, the cifrão actually acts as a decimal point and may have caught on as a broader symbol for money.

coin with a 2$50 denomination

Though the Portuguese use the nearly universal Arabic number system, they did not use a decimal or comma in their denominations. 2.5 escudos, Portugal, 1971 NCC 1978.58.1966

The Pillars of Hercules theory

In Greek mythology, Spain and Morocco were once connected by a tall mountain. Hercules created the gateway to the Strait of Gibraltar by breaking through this mountain—with his mighty sword. These great promontories were known as the Pillars of Hercules. The “pillars” have been represented literally as pillars and have together been a symbol of Spain for centuries. They are usually depicted with an S-shaped scroll loosely wrapped around them either together or, more tantalizingly, individually. So common were coins with this image that it’s easy to see them as the root of the dollar sign. But, again, there’s that shrug.

stone carving of two pillars with ribbon around them

The Pillars of Hercules as seen on the town hall of Seville, Spain. “Plus Ultra” means “further beyond” and is Spain’s national motto. Photo: Ignacio Gavira, Wikimedia Commons

old coin showing pillars, globes and crowns

The Pillars of Hercules as seen on a piece of eight. Coins like this circulated all over the world, including in the United States and Canada. 8 reales, Spain (Mexico), 1761 NCC 2000.40.305

The Arab conquest theory

Most theories about the origin of the dollar sign are variations of those described above. One that links two of them is the 8th-century conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) by the Arab General Táriq ibn Ziyád. The difficult route he took from Arabia through Egypt, Libya and Morocco ended by passing between the Pillars of Hercules. It’s suggested that coins minted by Táriq ibn Ziyád featured a wavy line crossed by two vertical lines. This symbol depicted his circuitous route of conquest plus the strength and endurance of the undertaking, as illustrated by bars representing the Pillars of Hercules. This is a theory behind the origin of the cifrão and, consequently, the dollar sign.

Your guess is as good as anybody’s

OK, that last one hasn’t a lot of support among modern historians, but speculations will probably continue to pop up about this fascinating gap in economic history. At this point, however, I should probably open up the floor to suggestions. Yes, you in the back…

Content Type(s): Blog
Subject(s): Collection, History

The Museum Blog

November 8, 2019

Private Atkinson’s War

By: Graham Iddon


Private Edward Atkinson’s example of trench art is what is called a “love token”—a souvenir made from a coin. It’s one man’s personal wartime experience expressed through a pocket-sized medium.
Content Type(s): Blog Subject(s): Collection, History
September 16, 2019

For Teachers: National Teachers Survey

By: Heather Montgomery


The Bank of Canada Museum would like to hear from teachers across Canada to help design new online resources for economic literacy.
Content Type(s): Blog Subject(s): Education
September 9, 2019

Bank Note/Billet de banque

By: Graham Iddon


The first Canadian paper money was issued in 1817, and for the next 120 years, the vast majority of Canadian bank notes were only in English.
Content Type(s): Blog
July 18, 2019

RCNA Convention, 2019

By: David Bergeron


Bank of Canada Museum will be at the 66th annual convention of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association (RCNA).
Content Type(s): Blog Subject(s): Collection, News & Events
July 8, 2019

Landscape Engraved

By: Graham Iddon


Retaining the landscape format but showing human activity and intervention transformed the imagery into an extended portrait of Canada and Canadians.
Content Type(s): Blog Subject(s): Collection
May 24, 2019

The Hunting of the Greenback

By: Graham Iddon


During World War Two, the Bank created the Foreign Exchange Control Board (FECB). One of its major tasks was to find as many US dollars as possible to pay for American imports.
Content Type(s): Blog Subject(s): About Us, History
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