Something that is used daily. Yet where did the Dollar sign ($) come from?
And Why do you think an "S" is used instead of a "D"?

I have read that it is based on the sign for a peso. I would be more likely to accept that story if it looked more like the letter P.

One explanation

The same answer from another source.

This thread seems to shed a little light on it, and differs in opinion from the above links.

But then, this one, which gives a seemingly sensible evolution, agrees with the Peso theory.

Thanks for the links, Dorian. I can't believe that all these years I thought the dollar sign was a symbol for US. Boy, was I dumb, or what? LOL

Also I get a clearer picture of why some foreigners use the symbol £ when addressing US money. I asked one time how did they make that symbol, but I didn't make myself clear enough, so I didn't get a clear answer. Of course, I copied and pasted the symbol, but it must be on their keyboard.

Honilov
The Pound sign £ is a stylised short-hand "L" which in turn used to be called Libra , the L in (L.S.D.) - Pounds, shillings, pence Libra solidus denarius (Roman origin)
And also seen in the weight LB
Found some links that will tell you more
www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutsymbols/poundsign

www.domesdaybook.net/hs2330.htm

www.aj.cz/useeng/youknow.htm

Puzzles me why the # sign is called the Pound sign even though it is on the Shifted 3 key on a computer keyboard
Its a Hash mark in the UK

And I always have used the US setup Keyboard at home Dunno why Like Honilov I have to copy the £ from the character map or a webpage to display it.

The pound sign, £ , is on the 3 key on this Sony keyboard, made for the British market. If that is where the # sign is on an American keyboard ( as I read your post Bedstor) then we have a Sony joke. Both # and £ are called the pound sign/symbol/mark in their local versions of English Sony have put the $ sign on the 4 key and the # sign shares a key with ' ~ ' at the end of the second row, beyond L.

The hash # is an American invention, so putting it on our keyboards was always an afterthought.

Where is the @ ('at' ) sign on an American keyboard? It turned up on the 2 key on one , supposedly American, board here. This board has it as a shift on the single inverted comma (quote) key ( ' ).

Is the £ sign called a pound sign in the US ? It sounds as though it might be called 'the British/ other/ English dollar sign' ! Evidently some Americans are not aware of the sign's separate existence That must puzzle some tourists when they get off the 'plane . As the exchange rate is about $1-80 to a £1, I'm sure we are happy if American tourists think a pound coin is the same as a dollar.Our goods and services might seem cheap to them for once

Note: HELP !!!! This keyboard has a euro sign too but this is printed on the 4 key, alongside, and to the right of, the figure 4. How am I supposed to print that sign? Is there a 'rightwards' shift key somewhere so I can get it to print that and not 4 ?

( The euro sign is like a curved written E ; it is C shaped; but has two bars across instead of the one of an E )

Hi Fred. To print the Euro sign, press "Ctrl" and "Alt" at the same time and keep them down as you press the "4"

(Pressing the "Alt GR" key and "4" will do the same job.)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Fourbrick,

I like the theory (mentioned, but dismissed on one of DG's links) that it derives from the image of the Pillars of Hercules wrapped in scrolls on the Spanish Piece of Eight (which was the coin most used in the American colonies):


However, the only reasonably authoritative source I have seen with commentary on it, AskOxford (although I did find a small error in one of their answers once), says that it derives from the p s (with the s superscripted, but that bit of HTML doesn't seem to work at the moment)abbreviation for peso, as other links have described. I was surprised to see Oxford state that derivation with certainty, given the uncertainty that other sources give the theories. Given the uncertainty other sources indicate, I'd be hesitant to believe Oxford, but it is usually a reasonably authoritative source.

quote:

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Originally posted by Fourbrick:
To print the Euro sign, press "Ctrl" and "Alt" at the same time and keep them down as you press the "4"

(Pressing the "Alt GR" key and "4" will do the same job.)

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On my setup the only way I can get the Euro sign € is to go into the Character map and copy it from there.I'd write it down on paper as a Capital "C" with a horizontal Line through it not "€"... come to think of it write them fast and they look similar to the US "¢" and the coins that make 1 Euro are Euro cents so somebody is going to make mistakes when writing out in long hand at speed the symbols for Euros and Euro cents
Don't think they'll be bringing Euro keyboards out Worldwide just yet
I'm happy playing "Twister" on my US keyboard setup confusing it may be

' Phylloxeral pickled herring ! Bouganvillea ! Blistering blue barnacles!......Gyroscopes, Bedstor! Tintin's Captain Haddock would be lost for curses and President De Gaulle, deceased,gyrating posthumously !

The coins are not cents . Well, they are everywhere else in the Eurozone but not here in France ! Contrary to the original agreement, the French, with that stubborn perversity and paranoia about national identity which is so, well, French, refused to call the French cents that. Theirs are centimes. Vive La France !

In European Union affairs the national motto, " Liberty, Equality and Fraternity" means taking a Liberty with Equality and Fraternity. It's much the same in international affairs too but I haven't the time to cover Iraq, the USSR -French accord, the banning of US warships from French ports and all the other glorious examples

And Fourbrick, that I must try first. Thanks. Now if only I can find an easyand quick way to type the three French accents and the cedilla .....