When the U.S. government begin issuing its own money in 1794, it used the common world currency - the peso - also called the Spanish dollar.
The first American silver dollars were identical to Spanish pesos in weight and value, so they took the same written abbreviations: Ps.
That evolved into a P with an s written right on top of it, and when people began to omit the circular part of the p, the sign simply became an S with a vertical line through it.
The first American silver dollars were identical to Spanish pesos in weight and value, so they took the same written abbreviations: Ps.
That evolved into a P with an s written right on top of it, and when people began to omit the circular part of the p, the sign simply became an S with a vertical line through it.