General Knowledge · 2
The dollar sign ($) is widely believed to have evolved from the abbreviation for which country's historical currency?
Answer
Spain (the Spanish peso)
Most historians trace the dollar sign to the abbreviation 'ps' for the Spanish peso, which was widely circulated in the Americas before the U.S. dollar existed; over time the 'p' and 's' were stacked and merged into a single symbol.
💡 Did you know?
The dollar sign ($) likely originated from the Spanish peso's abbreviation 'ps' stacked and crossed, not from the U.S. at all.
Other options people guess
- Portugal (the Portuguese real)
- The Netherlands (the Dutch guilder)
- The United Kingdom (the pound sterling)
Topics
- symbols
- etymology
- currency
- history
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