why is the symbol $ represent money? Where did the symol come from?

Answer 1

The sign is attested in business correspondence between British North America and Mexico in the 1770s as referring to the Spanish-Mexican piastre. The piastre was known as "Spanish dollar" in British North America, and in 1785, it was adopted as U.S. currency, together with both the term "dollar" and the $ sign.

The sign's ultimate origins are not certain. The most widely accepted explanation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, is that "$" is a corruption of the letters "PS" or "Ps" (for 'peso' or 'piastre' - especially the former, as each letter could represent each syllable of "Pé-So") written over each other in Spanish. Eventually, the 'P' was reduced to a vertical line.

Another possibility is that it derives from the British notation 8/ for eight shilling, referring to the Spanish 8 reales coin ("piece of eight"), which later became the USA dollar. Others derive it from the Portuguese Cifrão sign .

Earliest usage wrote the sign with a single vertical stroke. For some time, the double-stroke symbol was common, but is now again falling out of use.

Answer 2

money is the root of all evil... S = Satan and the single strike through it is the tail of the devil... the double strike through the S is the eyes of the devil... i'm just making this up, but it sounds like a valid theory...

Answer 3

$ is the symbol usually used for dollars. dont know where it came from though.

Answer 4

one legend has it that it was the over-printing of Ulysses S Grants first two initials.