Talk:United States dollar

The first half is a bit confusing Ilyanep

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I removed the following explanation of th $:

, which was originally a superimposed U and S

Because I believe it is wrong. I believe the $ is derived from the sign for Imperial Spain (which, as the article points out, was the source of the dollar). Can someone offer historical evidence for the US claim? Slrubenstein

I believe it actually comes not from the sign for Imperial Spain, but rather from the Spanish abbreviation for "peso", which slowly overtime became the dollar symbol. -- SJK

We agree that the $ derives from Spain, and is not a superimposed U and S. But I am stil not sure about the history. I do not think $ is an abbreviation of Peso; my guess is the peso (just spanish for "weight") also had the Imperial Seal on it during the colonial period. I found this:

Cuando en Estados Unidos se decidió que la moneda única sería el dólar coexistía todavía el Spanish Dollar acuñado con el escudo de España en una de sus caras. Como se ve en la imagen tiene en sus laterales las columnas de Hércules y unos lazos que las abrazan con la inscripción "PLUS ULTRA".

Para indicar que se pagaba con esa moneda ponían detrás de la cantidad el signo $ que recuerda la torre y la cinta que le abraza. Desde entonces pasó a ser el símbolo universal del dólar.

on the web-site, http://usuarios.lycos.es/aurenauta/spanishdolar.htm which suggests that the two vertical lines represent the pillars of Hercules, and the S represented the sash, but I do not know how authoritative this source is! Slrubenstein

It isn't. As reported, the $ sign comes from a melded PS, meaning "peso". The first written example has only one slash, not two, which sort of puts a hole in the Pillars of Hercules idea. Anyway, the whole thing was clarified by Dr. Florian Cajori - I'll find you a cite, but it may be on the Straight Dope (http://www.straightdope.com) archive - I'll try to find it when I'm not behind a firewall :) User:Montrealais

Here it is: [1] (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_178). - Montréalais

I checked the SD site; it sounds like the ps. argument is still conjecture, although I admit no less reasonable than the Spanish seal conjecture (also, Cajori was a notable mathematician but not an historian -- which doesn't mean he was wrong, but one would still have to check his research). In any event, we still all agree that it is NOT derived from an abbreviation for "United States," which is what the article originally claimed. Slrubenstein

Isn't the most common usage "US dollar" rather than "United States dollar? If I were searching on Google (for example) I'd search on "US dollar". </stupid nitpick> Tannin

US dollar redirects here. - Montréalais

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According to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (http://www.bep.treas.gov/document.cfm/18/113) (they make those dollars, after all):

The origin of the "$" sign has been variously accounted for. Perhaps the most widely accepted explanation is that it is the result of the evolution of the Mexican or Spanish "P's" for pesos, or piastres, or pieces of eight. This theory, derived from a study of old manuscripts, explains that the "S," gradually came to be written over the "P," developing a close equivalent to the"$" mark. It was widely used before the adoption of the United States dollar in 1785.

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Jordan Langelier: nickel is the term used by the mint. http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/index.cfm?action=coin_specifications

Yes, and the mint occasionally uses the word "penny" as well, for example at [2] (http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/fun_facts/index.cfm?action=fun_facts2). Nonetheless, both "penny" and "nickel" are slang terms, not the name of US coins. "Nickel" doesn't mean "twentieth of a dollar", it refers to the metal that the coin is traditionally made of.

I don't think it's slang anymore. Today, an educated man would say he picked up a 'nickle'; saying he picked up a 'five cent piece' would be unusual. Cent/penny; there is no argument, but nickle is no longer slang. IMHO, of course ;) Jordan Langelier

The same could be said of the "penny", in that saying "one cent piece" would be unusual. But ponder this. Each coin contains, in writing, its own name. The twenty-five cent piece, for example, says "Quarter Dollar". What is written on the "nickel"? Also, consider that the mint is only allowed to issue coins which congress authorizes it to. Read the law authorizing the issuance of the "nickel" and see what the law calls it... The word "nickel" is mentioned over at United_States_Coin, which lists every denomination of coin currently or previously issued.

Perhaps the fine distinction we should make is this. The word "nickel" doesn't mean "twentieth of a dollar", it means "five cent coin". -º¡º

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Is there any good reason that all the American bills are green? I mean why didn't they use different colours for every bill like in Canada, I mean, like in every other country in the world that I have ever been to (which includes most of Western Europe, pre-Euro). dave 06:02 May 14, 2003 (UTC)

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I was going to change "issuance" to "issue", but I wondered if the former is actually correct usage in American English? jimfbleak 15:20 May 14, 2003 (UTC)

Yes issuance is a word. Even the World Bank website uses it. Rmhermen 15:27 May 14, 2003 (UTC)