Have you noticed that the dollar symbol — which is often written as one slash through an S, especially when it comes to modern typefaces — is sometimes written with two slashes? In my experience, I have found that two slashes was more common in prior times than it is now.
What’s the difference between the two? Technically, nothing; a writer will almost always choose one or the other based on style or habit alone, however, there are some interesting theories about the history of this symbol.
One Slash vs. Two Slashes
While the true origin of the symbol isn’t entirely known, it is often believed that the symbol with only one slash is derived from the Spanish Peso — some have even suggested that the symbol is a P from Peso superimposed on an S from Spanish.
When it comes to the symbol with two slashes, it’s usually assumed that this symbol came from the abbreviation for the United States, US, where a U was superimposed on an S, but the bottom bar on the U was removed, leaving only two vertical lines.
Whether or not this is true, I do love the classic look of a dollar sign with two slashes, therefore, I recently amended my handwriting to replace the one slash symbol with the two slash symbol.
Which symbol do you prefer?
Onward American 