$ Sign
Submitted: Monday, May 06, 2019 at 13:22
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ian.g
Probably not the place to ask, but I can't find out anyplace else. In 1966 when the $ was introduced to Australia the S had two lines drawn through it, somewhere over time since then one of these lines has been dropped in favour of the American Dollar symbol ($) that we now use. Can anyone tell me what year this happened and why?
Reply By: skulldug - Monday, May 06, 2019 at 13:30
Monday, May 06, 2019 at 13:30
I believe there were originally three lines but one was taken out by the Tax Office. Over time, bracket creep meant they got another one. Soon you will only get the S.
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Follow Up By: ian.g - Monday, May 06, 2019 at 13:43
Monday, May 06, 2019 at 13:43
The original artwork from 1966 shows two lines and the original Dollar Bill cartoon shows him playing a Dollar sign guitar with two strings. The two lines appear to have been dropped to one line approx. the same time that computers started to be introduced into Australia.
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Follow Up By: Ron N - Monday, May 06, 2019 at 15:50
Monday, May 06, 2019 at 15:50
This happened the same year that the U.S. declared Australia the 51st State of the Union.
The year was 1967, and the U.S. declaration followed Harold Holts declaration of, "all the way with LBJ". [;-)
Cheers, Ron.
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Reply By: Ozi M - Monday, May 06, 2019 at 16:25
Monday, May 06, 2019 at 16:25
I was working in a bank when decimal currency was introduced, I stopped using the second line about 9.15am on 14/2/66
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Follow Up By: RobynR4 - Friday, May 17, 2019 at 21:27
Friday, May 17, 2019 at 21:27
My late father worked in a bank then, too.
I am absolutely positive that his answer would've been the same as yours!!
:)
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Follow Up By: Shaker - Friday, May 17, 2019 at 22:51
Friday, May 17, 2019 at 22:51
I was working in finance at the time, we were told from day 1 (14/02/66) never to use 2 lines, Australian dollar sign was always intended to have one line.
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Reply By: RMD - Monday, May 06, 2019 at 16:33
Monday, May 06, 2019 at 16:33
Probably not worth worrying about the number of lines in a dollar sign, if a certain party get hold of Australia you won't have as many $$$$'s with or without lines. The S will simply stand for something different, S for _ _ _ _ _ _ ism.
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Follow Up By: fisho64 - Tuesday, May 07, 2019 at 11:30
Tuesday, May 07, 2019 at 11:30
News flash
That party is already in power!
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Follow Up By: Bazooka - Thursday, May 09, 2019 at 21:44
Thursday, May 09, 2019 at 21:44
I presumed he was addressing his comment to the hundreds of execs from non-taxpaying mega multinational corps who inhabit this small
forum. Perhaps he's swallowed Palmer's desperate ads showing the communist invasion of WA? Just when you thought Australia might have grown up a little along comes more xenophobia and reds under the beds garbage.
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Reply By: Ron N - Monday, May 06, 2019 at 16:53
Monday, May 06, 2019 at 16:53
Interestingly, the only country in the world where 2 strokes through the dollar sign is the official symbol - is America.
But Americans can utilise either a double or single stroke in regular use, and it is accepted.
All other countries utilise a single stroke - apart from Australia, which uses a single or a double stroke, according to which typing device, keyboard, programme or font you are using.
Both styles of symbol are acceptable here, officially and unofficially.
Cheers, Ron.
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Reply By: OBJ - Monday, May 06, 2019 at 19:06
Monday, May 06, 2019 at 19:06
My personal take on this is because in the fonts we use on computers the $ sign only has one (line).
Following your query I went to my DTP program and typed a dollar sing for all the fonts and each one came out with just one line/stroke.
So I will blame Steve Jobs and Bill Gates at this stage. I have no idea if this theory is correct, but it strikes a chord with me.
OBJ
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Reply By: Hoyks - Monday, May 06, 2019 at 19:15
Monday, May 06, 2019 at 19:15
In recent times its probably just evolved that way because of how much detail you can put into a typewriter type head and still maintain clarity when using a ribbon. An S with two II through it would be a poorly defined blob, so it was down to one vertical line as it still got the point across.
and its easier to write.
Someone has put a bit of thought into the question:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_sign
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Follow Up By: ian.g - Tuesday, May 07, 2019 at 11:20
Tuesday, May 07, 2019 at 11:20
I asked the question because a couple of weeks ago it was a question on "The Chase" television show and the contestant answered two strokes and was deemed wrong, I thought that the contestant had answered correctly and have spent a bit of time trying to find the correct answer. (Too much time on my hands). Thanks everyone for your answers, I really appreciate them.
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Reply By: Alloy c/t - Tuesday, May 07, 2019 at 10:57
Tuesday, May 07, 2019 at 10:57
Its all to do with the keyboard on the computer ...
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Reply By: ian.g - Tuesday, May 07, 2019 at 11:22
Tuesday, May 07, 2019 at 11:22
Thanks everyone for your answers, they are really appreciated.
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Reply By: Member - TONIONPATROL - Wednesday, May 08, 2019 at 21:00
Wednesday, May 08, 2019 at 21:00
The original $ sign was actually U&S overlaid with each other denoting US DOLLAR.
The US dropped the “loop” to just “II” & S overlaid in the early 1900s
As stated elsewhere here the computer key board simplified it to just “$”.
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