Where did the dollar symbol come from and what does it mean? It’s a good question without a definitive answer.
However, there is a likely explanation that is reluctantly accepted, in lieu of any exact proof of origin.
In early America, various currency was used: French, English, Italian, and Spanish, whatever coins were available.
The Spanish peso was most frequently traded, and it became common to write the abbreviation for pesos, ps, instead of writing out the whole word, as in ps 12 instead of 12 pesos.
From there, ps was intertwined even more, a shorthand version, as it were, with the p and the s overlapping.
The p’s front part sort of disappeared as an unnecessary stroke, and we’re left with the dollar sign we use today.
General Motors was the first company in history to make a billion dollars in one year back in 1955.
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