Bernard. Rudman,  question:

What is the origin of the dollar sign?

The wonderful little sign, $, is popular around the world. In the United States, Canada, Hong King and British West Indies it means dollar or dollars. In Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uraguay it means peso or pesos. It also means money in Portugal, Honduras and Brazil.

The word dollar came to us from an old German coin. It was originally called the taler. The first talers were made in the Valley of Joachim, Bohemia, in 1519. The dollar sign comes to us from the Spanish of South America.

At one time, the Spanish American peso was worth almost a dollar. The peso was a 5‑peseta piece coin. The quick way to write peso or pesos was Ps. In time, the people found an even quicker way to write pesos. The capital P lost its side leap. In place of this it was given an extra stem stroke. The small s was moved over the double stroke. This what we have ‑ $. And this is the sign for pesos.  Such a beautiful little sign was soon adopted. It became the sign for dollar or dollars.