Ever Wonder Where the Dollar Sign Comes From?

$ - It's ubiquitous and instantly recognizable as the symbol for a dollar, usually associated with American currency. In light of India's recent approval of a new symbol for the rupee, Slate posted a short piece on where currency symbols come from. Pretty interesting stuff.

Coolest data points I found:

• The US dollar likely comes from an abbreviation of Spanish pesos
• The Israeli New  Shekel symbol crosses the first letter of each word in Hebrew (shekel chadash or ₪)
• The British pound comes from the Latin for scales, or Libra

Check out the Slate article HERE.