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Podatek iz članka Ameriški dolar je bil v 19. tednu 2005 predstavljen na Glavni strani Wikipedije v rubriki »Ste vedeli?«. Besedilo vnosa je bilo naslednje: Ste vedeli, da ... številne države dopuščajo uporabo ameriškega dolarja kot de facto plačilno sredstvo?

me zanima, če kdo ve zakaj in kako je prišlo do tega, da ima amerik tak znak...$.Kaj znak pomeni?????

Takole:

There are various stories on origin of the "$" sign to represent "dollar." Because the dollar was originally the Spanish 8 reales coin, it is suggested that the 'S' derives from the number '8' which appeared on the coin. The most widely accepted explanation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, is that "$" is a corruption of the letters "PS" (for 'peso' or 'piastre' - especially the former, as each letter could represent each syllable of "Pe-So") written over each other in Spanish. Eventually, the 'P' was reduced to a vertical line - | - since the hump disappeared into the upper curve of the 'S' anyway. Examination of old manuscripts yields support for this theory. The "$" symbol was widely in use before formal adoption of the Spanish dollar as U.S. currency in 1785.

The dollar sign is sometimes written with two vertical strokes. This is probably just a carry-over of the old habit of using three strokes to write the original sign: One stroke for the 'S' (it is physically easier to write the 'S' first, then the 'P'), a second stroke for the vertical line '|,' and then a third stroke for the hump of the 'P.' People in a hurry or who simply do not care about making a perfectly formed 'P' (especially as the 'hump' will disappear into the 'S' anyway), probably just made the third stroke a second vertical line.

There are, however, a number of fanciful explanations for the second vertical line - ranging from superimposition of the letters 'U' and 'S' (the bottom of the 'U' disappearing into the bottom curve of the 'S,' effectively leaving two vertical lines that eventually merge into one as the sign '$'), to the very amusing but original idea that the dollar sign with two vertical lines represents the two pillars of the original Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem. Neither of these stories holds up, however, first because this version of the symbol pre-dates the founding of the United States (whence came the notion of 'U' superimposed over 'S'); and, second, because there is simply no evidence for the theory in the history of the Spanish coin. Rather, this theory seems to trace to the traditions of Freemasonry; and, indeed, some Masonic symbols do appear on U.S. currency - but they did not in 1785.

A few people write the sign with one vertical stroke for small sums of money and two vertical strokes for large sums of money. (For example, five dollars with one stroke and one million dollars with two strokes.) However, this is only a matter of style, and it certainly has little to do with the original variation.

--AndrejJ (pog., prisp.) 21:50, 22 januar 2006 (CET)