Did you know that many Americans believe that the dollar sign ($) is an abbreviation for U.S. dollars? Nothing could be further from the truth.
Here, its history!
It was not until 1792 that the U.S. dollar was created in the image and likeness of the Spanish Real de a ocho or dollar. For several decades the two currencies coexisted until 1857, when the U.S. dollar prevailed, since both currencies had the same theoretical and practical value.
In the United States, the real de ocho was called the Spanish dollar or "pillar-dollar" (pillar dollar), after the two columns of Hercules that appeared on the Spanish coins.
The "S" was the abbreviation used for the word peso in mercantile correspondence since the 18th century, and the two stripes represent the Pillars of Hercules, present in the emblem of Spain since the time of Emperor Charles I, and symbolizing what the Greeks defined as the end of the known world: the Strait of Gibraltar, and whose two columns refer to Mount Musa in Africa and the Rock of Gibraltar in Europe.
Another derived theory is that the dollar symbol, $, is a direct inheritance of the Spanish abbreviation of the real de a ocho: Peso = Ps, two letters that superimposed would give the famous symbol.
Although there are other interpretations of the origin of the U.S. dollar sign, these two, which refer to the Spanish origin, are the most widely supported and accepted by the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
Nowadays, with the massive use of keyboards, the use of the dollar sign with a single column has become more standardized and widespread, although both interpretations are accepted and considered correct.