New-York tribune., 1899-03-26
ORIGIN OF THE DOLLAR SIGN
THE SECRETARY OF THE BOARD n,
GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES SUGGESTS
A NEW EXPLANATION.
Baker in The Independent.

Various theories, to the number of eigh, !.
nine have been off red in explanation bv, -
one OF them has yet been proved with suffcisn.
completeness to win general acceptance | viii
run over in outline some Of the most COMM.
Of these explanations. and then set forth NV
own theory, which, unless cOntrldicted by SOM
newly discovered facts ought to settle foreys,
this interesting and much disputed. olestion
Among the explanations Of the origin u ,ba
dollar sign currently offered are these:
l. That it is a combination OF the letter, r
and $. the initials Of United states.
y That it is a modification Of the figure m,
dollar being formerly called a piece Of eight
and designated by the symbol :.
,. That it is derived from a representation -
the Pillars Of Hercules. connected by a scrd
The dollars containing thes- were called nil
lar" dollars.
I. That it is a combination Of II s the marx
of the Roman money unit.
). That il is combination Of p and s from
the Spanish peso sura. sgnlfying nari dollar
To this list Of theories now add one more
viz that the symbol, in almost its present form
was invented and published I'm 1874 by the Rev
Chauncey Lee. Of Rutland, Vt. and that Il Vas
part of general system invented by him ,o'
designing mills. cents. dimes dollars and eagles
In his system one stroke designated mill tv,
strokes o cent. three strokes dime, four strokes
a dollar while an eagle was designated By the
letter f..
The publication Of these symbols was made
lust one hundred years ago in quaint litte
arithmetic published in Lansingburg, y. Y The
book was described on the nyleaf as The
American Accomptant; Being Plain Prsc
tca and Systematic Compendium OF Federal
Arithmetic in three parts, designed for the US
OF schools and specially calculated for The
meridian OF the United States OF America By
Chauncey Lee. A. NJ No use OF this symeA
in print before 1I91 is known to me- and have
made careful searches, but this dollar sign BE-
gan to appear in print shortly after lI9I and
g,adually beca ne common. OF the four sym
tols invented by Lee only this one has sur
vived 1t met a real need which the Others
did not
Lees arithmetic is very instructive book
from which We NAV learn something about the
aLthor more about the money in use one hun.
drod years ago and tn" mode OF teachlng arlu'
metic and keeping accounts IN tnat day llr
patriotic zeal. then all ablaze TO be free ron
European influence. is very conspicuous Oh
every pase Although the metric system IS not
mentioned by name he makes in ms long miro
duction an able argument against the pre'alIns
systems Of weights and measures ana ursS
the substitution OF declmai system Tsps,. NJ pe.
posed a system NhlcA hc 'aiS hcHei'' "No-
and Measures.
For the usual table,
u grains make pennyweight.
20 pennyYeights make | ounce,
II ounces make ! pound,
he proposed 20 substitute:
10 cents make l grain,
10 grains make | pennyweght'
10 pennyweights make ! ounce
10 ounces make pound
Similarly. in apothecaries' weight he proposed
10 grains make | scruple,
10 scruples make ! dram,
10 drains make ! ounce
10 ounces make | pound,
and so on. -.
II will thus be apparent that ne was r
former and quite capable or lnVenung sm,
bols The decimal system Of Federal money hai
been adopted in 11s6 Neyertheless' lne hns
lish system Of pounds. shlings ana pen,e va wa
still in vogue was taught IN the on, senooS S- r,.
was generally used in accounts a s,,s,,", sleH
rietv of money was evidently IN crculasD. W.
Much space is devoted by Lee 10 eSpounu.s
methods for reducing these various kinIs l,.
equivalents in Federal money. ms - '"s msn,l
by such textual notes "a these Aver .ne u.sE,
table / farthngs make penny l. pe'''
| shilling etc. he adds: .,,r,orei,,
"Ouestion. Are there not several culreH0"
in this table. which differ in their value
Answer Yes; there are .., =, A..
Il Sterling money. which is the money Of u
count in England. ,
-. Irish money, used in Ireland ~, Ca.
3. Halifax money. the currency 81 Nova ~
tia and the two provinces OF Canada.
- south Carolina and Georgia currency,
- The currency II New Hampshire, .uS., Ma,
chusetts Connecticut. Rhode Island VIE ,Ss
Vermont and Kentucky. common! o~"''
lawful money Of New England. ,..,.. and
Is. New-Jersey Pennsylvania, Delaware 49,
Maryland currency. lilo, ,,,rrency"
-. New-York and North Carolina currer.St sinSs 4
Thus it appears that ar east rsnt $50, use
poonnv we're in more or less current -,
That their use was possible implies that Sires S|e
relations must be known. Accordlns.t -" slsnif
a table of equivalents. followed by 'h'' S''"
cant statement: ,.. ,,,-rancies that
are used in the United states are glyins o~sy" "s"
the uniform currency of the Federal mons sum
The peculiar spacing used IN "ri.,ms "nts IS well
Of money expressed in Englsh utIiH usSrss and
known our author writes pounts rsndom from
bs bfnfs book5 iS 500. Il. oi3" tl66 49, A. fc IL so
Similarly for Federal money eXpreSss'SSa s.s'SSaoe9S
lars, cents and mills he writes, sc,riited' sui
Sometimes one OF the polntS - ,,b I'' we would
I In Dr. Lees very book the use Of these ,Ssm ~ %
bos. or chara ,teristics as he calS into into dis: