The story of the American dollar is mixed with history of many countries and even continents. The word itself is the Anglicized form of “thaler”, the name of coins made of silver from Joachimsthal in Bohemia. The later version of the word that sounded more like “dollar” was used for other European coins, including the Spanish peso.

These coins were widely used in British colonies in the New World. When the United States became independent dollar became the currency of the new state. But it took another fifty years for the new country to mine enough silver and gold to stop using foreign coins.

Surprisingly enough, the origin of the dollar sign is not yet clear. The theory that is the most widely accepted traces it to the Spanish peso. Yet some people believe that the sign is simply an abbreviation of the United States. Some have claimed that the sign comes from the world ‘slavery’ but there is no scientific prove of this theory. Either way, the sign symbolizes not only the currency but the economic strength of the United States of America.