What does the $ actually stand for?

Main Ideas

1. The dollar came from Spanish and European coins

The dollar’s history begins with the Spanish real. A coin worth eight reales was called a real de a ocho, or “piece of eight.” It spread throughout the Americas, including the British colonies, and was also known as a peso, a word meaning “weight” or “unit of weight.” The coin could be divided into eight parts; a quarter was called “two bits.”

In Europe, a silver coin minted in the Bohemian valley of Joachimsthal became known as a Joachimsthaler, later shortened to thaler. Related names included Dutch daalder, Scandinavian daler, and English dollar. Because the thaler and Spanish peso were similar in value, the peso became known in English as the Spanish dollar.

After independence, the United States adopted its own dollar, basing it on the weight and value of the Spanish dollar. The US dollar is therefore named after the Spanish dollar, which was itself a peso.

2. The likely origin of the $ sign

The video’s favored explanation is that the dollar sign developed from a handwritten abbreviation for peso: a P with a small S written above it. In some documents, this abbreviation appears alongside a dollar sign, and both symbols refer to the same currency. On this account, the dollar sign combines the P and S, with the S drawn down over the P.

The host cites documents examined by mathematician Florian Cajori as especially strong evidence for this explanation. The idea that the sign represents “US” written together is rejected: the earliest recorded example discussed in the video, a 1778 letter by Oliver Pollock, dates from only two years after US independence, but the symbol does not look like a U and S combined.

Other proposed explanations include:

• The Pillars of Hercules: These appear on Spanish coins, sometimes with a ribbon that resembles an S. The host finds the idea visually appealing but notes that Cajori found no documentary evidence to support it.
• A “Plague dollar” coin: Its snake-and-cross design can look like an S crossed by a line, but the host considers it unlikely to have inspired the American currency symbol.

The sign has appeared with one or two vertical strokes since the late 18th century. The first written examples shown use one stroke; an early printed example in Chauncey Lee’s 1797 arithmetic book uses two. The host suggests that the double stroke may relate to how the P was written, but does not present either form as definitively more correct.

The host also notes that the dollar sign does not appear on US banknotes or coins, or on the listed Canadian, Australian, Singaporean, and Hong Kong currency notes or coins.

3. The British pound and the £ sign

The British pound is named after a unit of weight. Its name comes from the Latin libra pondo, meaning “pound weight.” The £ sign is a stylized L, from libra, with one or sometimes two lines indicating an abbreviation.

The original pound was a pound-weight of sterling silver. The origin of the word sterling is uncertain. Suggested explanations link it to starlings or stars on coins, a Germanic word meaning “strong,” or “Easterlings,” referring to eastern European traders. The video does not settle on any of these theories.

4. Where other currency names come from

The video highlights how many currency names refer to weights or quantities:

• Peso means “weight” or “unit of weight.”
• Shekel also means “weight.”
• Drachma meant “a handful.”
• Dirham and dram are related to drachma and share the “handful” association.

5. The euro’s name and symbol

The euro was introduced electronically in 1999. Its notes and coins entered circulation in 2002, replacing several national currencies.

Its working name was ECU, short for European Currency Unit and coincidentally the name of an old French coin. Other proposed names included crown, shilling, and florin. French President Jacques Chirac reportedly called “euro” maladroit, meaning awkward. The name was ultimately chosen in December 1995 and used across participating countries.

The name is sometimes credited to Esperantist Germain Pirlot, who suggested it to the European Commission. The € symbol resembles a stylized E and the Greek letter epsilon. The European Central Bank says its two parallel lines represent the currency’s stability.

6. Sponsor segment

The host briefly describes taking Swedish lessons through Preply, emphasizing one-to-one practice with a tutor as a way to build speaking confidence. He names his tutor, Andrea, and promotes a discount on a first lesson.

Speakers and Sources Featured

Voices

• Rob Watts (RobWords): Main narrator.
• Andrea: Preply Swedish tutor, briefly heard during the lesson segment.
• Parrot sound effect/voice: Says “Pieces of eight.”

People and sources cited or shown

• Oliver Pollock: Author of the 1778 letter shown as the earliest recorded use of the dollar sign discussed in the video.
• Florian Cajori: Mathematician whose research on historical documents is cited in support of the peso-abbreviation explanation.
• Chauncey Lee, American Accomptant (1797): Shown as an early printed example of the dollar sign with two strokes.
• Bank of England Museum: Source of the 1660 cheque shown in the discussion of the pound sign.
• The Royal Mint: Cited on the lines in the pound sign.
• Jacques Chirac: Quoted as criticizing the name “euro.”
• Germain Pirlot and the European Commission: Pirlot is credited by some with proposing “euro”; a Commission letter to him is shown.
• The Times: Quoted on the reception of the name “euro.”
• European Central Bank: Cited on the meaning of the lines in the euro symbol.
• Preply: Sponsor featured in the language-learning segment.