Here's the story behind it—and why it wasn't always a "dollar" sign
Here’s the Real Reason the Dollar Sign Is an S
Updated on Apr. 24, 2025
Most people encounter the dollar sign on a daily basis: in stores, on websites, in the media and more. The symbol also serves as shorthand, referring to money, wealth, capitalism, commercialism and commodification. But despite being surrounded by the dollar sign, have you ever stopped to think about its history, and why it’s in the shape of an “S”? As it turns out, there are several theories about its origins, with varying degrees of evidence to support each. Read on to learn more interesting facts about the mysterious symbol of our currency.
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What’s the history of the dollar sign?
Back when the United States was a collection of 13 British colonies, its currency mirrored that of Great Britain, with various denominations of pounds, pence and shillings. But that began to change in 1775, with the introduction of Continental currency, which was issued in dollars—first in paper currency, and then as a dollar coin in 1776.
However, it wasn’t until July 6, 1785 that the Continental Congress established the dollar as the official currency of the United States: the first step towards creating a national monetary system. That same year, the U.S. adopted the dollar sign that we continue to use today as a symbol of the currency.
What’s the connection between the Spanish peso and the dollar sign?
From the 16th and 18th centuries, a Spanish silver coin known as a “real” was the currency of reference for world trade. During this time, the American colonies—which frequently traded with Spain—adopted the Spanish peso (or “peso de ocho reales”) as their own. Despite the creation of the U.S. dollar, the peso remained legal tender in the United States until 1857.
So what does this have to do with the dollar sign? According to Bill Maurer, PhD, a cultural anthropologist at the University of California, Irvine, the dollar sign evolved from the way accountants and merchants abbreviated “Spanish peso”—writing an “S” and superimposing a lowercase “p” on top of the “S.” This was eventually simplified to the U.S. dollar sign that we know and use today. For this reason, the dollar sign was originally called—and still is also known as—the “peso sign,” Maurer says.
What are alternative theories behind the U.S. dollar sign?
Despite having a relatively straightforward explanation of its origins, there are alternative theories behind why the dollar sign is made using the letter “S.” One theory suggests that the dollar sign is derived from the Spanish coat of arms, which includes two pillars each wrapped in a cloth ribbon, representing the Pillars of Hercules, which was a sign of the Strait of Gibraltar, Maurer says.
A competing theory is that the dollar sign is simply a “U” superimposed on an “S” for “United States,” but Maurer says that there’s no historical evidence supporting this explanation.
Finally, another theory—which is also unsupported by historical evidence—is that it is derived from the Latin phrase “in hoc signo” or “by this sign,” which was abbreviated “IHS” in liturgical scripts, as well as on tombstones in the 19th century, Maurer says.
“Tombstone carvers superimposed the letters ‘IHS’ on top of each other, which made it look sort of like a triple-stroke dollar sign,” Maurer notes. Fast-forward to the 19th century, when Americans made the association between this symbol on wealthy people’s tombstones (since they’re the ones who could afford tombstones) and the new appearance of the dollar sign on paper currency.
How was the dollar sign adopted in the U.S.?
The first printed dollar sign was made on a Philadelphia printing press in the late 1790s and came courtesy of anti-British Scotsman Archibald Binny, who also created the Monticello typeface.
When the U.S. minted its own coinage after the 1792 Coinage Act, it defined the U.S. dollar as having the same value as the Spanish peso. “But the coins themselves didn’t have the symbol on it,” Maurer explains. “It was only used in print and in ledger books.” The first use of the dollar sign on a banknote was in 1869.
What are some modern uses of the U.S. dollar symbol?
Today, the dollar sign is used for a number of currencies around the world, including the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand dollar, as well as the Brazilian real and the Mexican, Argentine and Chilean peso.
The dollar sign is also used in the entertainment industry. “Performers have adopted it in their names to mean wealth or power, sometimes ironically or critically, to call out greed,” Maurer says. Examples of this include Ke$ha, Ty Dolla $ign and A$AP Rocky.
Additionally, the dollar sign is also a very common symbol in a large number of computer languages, for all kinds of different functions, Maurer says. “One of the reasons that it is used in so many computing languages is that, given its function in accounting, the character $ was included on all computer keyboards and character sets, so it could be repurposed for multiple uses,” he explains.
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Sources:
- Bill Maurer, PhD, a cultural anthropologist and the dean of the school of social sciences at the University of California, Irvine. Email interview, April 17, 2025.
- U.S. Currency Education Program: “The history of U.S. currency”
- National Museum of American History: “1 Continental dollar”
- History.com: “Continental Congress sets the dollar as the official U.S. currency”
- Iberdrola: “From the Spanish dollar to the U.S. dollar”
- BBC: “The curious origins of the dollar symbol”
