美元的符號$是怎么來的
大家都知道,$ 表示美元.那么它是怎樣來的呢?一種說法是,它是 P S 疊合寫法的演變.PS是18至19世紀(jì)期間美國的一種圓形硬幣比索（Pesos）的縮寫,這種硬幣在1974年美國正式建立造幣廠以前一直在全國通用.后來美國政府認可了$這個符號作為新貨幣的一個單位,即一美元.在書寫時,$要擺在數(shù)字前面.如1美元應(yīng)寫成$1,50美元寫成$50.而這種寫法的背后還有一個小故事.
It is only appropriate that an Irish immigrant to the United States be the one credited with originating the dollar sign.Oliver Pollock sailed the high seas at the age of twenty-three,and settled in Carlisle,Pennsylvania.This young entrepreneur rapidly established himself as a wealthy and influential West Indies trader.
Pollock moved his operation to Louisiana,where he amassed even more wealth as a trader,and as a plantation owner.His success enabled him to provide supplies to the Patriots’ cause in the Revolutionary War,and to maintain close contact and a degree of influence with Congress.Pollock’s success allowed him easily to purchase military supplies to support “the cause,” as the Spanish Empire had an outpost in New Orleans,Louisiana.In his dealings with the Spaniards,Pollock used their currency,the peso.
In true Spanish tradition,Pollock used an abbreviation for pesos,yet his penmanship made the abbreviation appear to be the transposition of the letters “p” and “s.”
Prior to 1775,the fledgling nations monetary system was in disarray,and needed to be revamped.By 1775,Congress decided to rectify the situation by backing all of its legal tender with the most commonly circulated coins that were,coincidentally,Spanish coins minted in the New World.Americans then began trading with “Spanish milled dollars,” later termed “dollars,” as Americans shed the “pounds” that were the vestiges of British rule.
Congressman Robert Morris,to whom Pollock addressed his billing records,perpetuated the use of the dollar sign,and was the first high government official to give his blessing to the “s” with the two lines through it.
The appearance of the dollar sign in print,in a 1797 book by Chauncey Lee,signified the acceptance of the dollar as a purely American symbol.
Carlisle:卡萊爾
plantation owner:種植園主
outpost:前哨
peso:比索
penmanship:書法
monetary system:貨幣體系
revamp:修補
vestige:殘余
美元的符號＄是怎么來的
DOLLAR 美元
至高無上的美元起源于現(xiàn)今的捷克共和國.1519年,位于Joachimstal鎮(zhèn) (意為 Joachims山谷,源于德語“Tal”為“山谷”)附近的一座銀礦開始制造銀幣,銀幣的名稱,不假思索的取名為Joachimster,這種銀幣廣泛流通,后來名稱簡化為“taler”,變的更加有名.在荷蘭及德國南方,taler一詞開頭的輔音常常軟化而變成 “daler”.英語采用了這一形式,最終其拼寫為現(xiàn)在的 “dollar”一詞的形式.
在美國殖民地,以前沒有標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的貨幣.最廣泛使用的是西班牙比索,也稱之為 “八片幣”,因為它可以分成包子狀的八塊.英國殖民主義者把這種錢幣非正式的稱為dollar(元).1785年,美洲殖民地大會確定了美國貨幣,他們根據(jù)毛里求斯總督和托馬斯.杰弗遜的建議把dollar(美元) 作為標(biāo)準(zhǔn)貨幣單位名稱.因為dollar 一詞已廣為人知,它與任何形式的英國官方貨幣無關(guān).（杰弗遜還命名了硬幣角（disme）,起源于法語dixieme,作為一美元的十分之一,發(fā)音為“deem”,最終演變?yōu)閐ime）
美元的符號$的起源與好幾種民間傳說有關(guān).一種說法是：它是由托馬斯·杰弗遜發(fā)明的,為TS交織字母的標(biāo)記.杰弗遜首次將這符號與美元聯(lián)系起來,但這種說法未免有點荒誕.另一種說法是：原來是字母U加在字母S上,當(dāng)然代表U.S.（美國）.后來由于印刷技術(shù)差的緣故,U的底部未印出來,結(jié)果就剩下兩條豎杠在字母S上.還有一種說法是,它是數(shù)字“8”的變體,“8”曾經(jīng)出現(xiàn)在西班牙比索上,代表“八片幣”.這最后一種說法與事實相近,但也不能令人信服.
西班牙皇室將$這一符號用在飾有紋章的盾牌上,兩個柱子（代表大力神在直布羅陀和摩洛哥的兩根柱子）與一面招展的旗幟相交,有“超級”的含義.這一符號出現(xiàn)在比索上,很像今天$這一符號.在美洲殖民地,它被用來作為比索的符號,后來轉(zhuǎn)用來代表美元.
美國是第一個將官方貨幣命名為“元”的國家.1797年,英國銀行開始鑄造面值為“元”的硬幣,作為銀行發(fā)行的貨幣.其他國家相繼采用“元”作為他們的貨幣,他們不是模仿美國就是模仿壽命不長的英國銀行的做法.