The American dollar keeps its mysteries to this day. In the dollar sign itself, they see the designation of the Spanish piastres, the Pillars of Hercules and the Old Testament serpent.
pillars of Hercules
There are many versions of the appearance of the dollar sign, but the most common says that this symbol was used in his accounting books by the arms dealer Oliver Polock. For his own calculations, Oliver took as a basis the sign of the Spanish coin - piaster or Spanish thaler, which was then in use on the American market.
It depicts the coat of arms of the Spanish monarchy. Its integral part is the Pillars of Hercules wrapped in a ribbon.
Once they were the edge of the human ecumene, the Mediterranean world, and according to legend, they were placed by Hercules on the Rock of Gibraltar and Abila Rock. So, during his tenth feat - the Abduction of the cows of Heraklion, Hercules marked the most extreme point of his route. Geographically, this is the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, behind which the ocean began, an area inaccessible and unknown to humans of the ancient world and the early Middle Ages.
So for the Spaniards, these two intertwined columns symbolized the end of the earth, and the inscription on the ribbon read: "nec plus ultra", "nowhere else." As for the letter "S", it denoted the waves breaking on the columns-rocks. In the British colonies piastres were called “Dollars with Pillars”. Apparently Oliver abbreviated the Ps sign with one S with two lines in his accounts.
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Temptation by the serpent
There are other versions of the origin of the dollar symbol. Researcher David Owason argues that the dollar was once born from the German thaler (thaler or daler) - a large silver coin that was circulated in the 16th-19th centuries. In Great Britain a little later the name of the coin acquired a more English sound - “dollar”. In England of the 17th-18th centuries, any silver coins similar to a thaler were called dollars, mentions of them can be found even in Shakespeare:
King of Norway, asked for peace,
But before bury the slain
He had to be on the island of St. Colm
Give us ten thousand dollars …
On one side of the German thaler, the crucified Christ was depicted, and on the other there was a serpent braiding the cross. From here, according to Ovason, came the dollar symbol $, which serves as a reminder to all mankind that spiritual healing began with God, not money.
Alpha and Omega
George Washington was not portrayed on the dollar bill by accident. He remained in history as a prudent and economical owner who kept his own accounting records, believing that it was easier to keep track of every penny this way. Celebrating his economic literacy, he was placed on a one dollar bill. But the story with Washington on the dollar does not end there. The frame that frames his portrait also deserves special attention.
According to Ovason, it is the Omega symbol, the letter of the Greek alphabet, which means "the end of everything."
Here, according to the researcher, the faith of Washington, who was a religious Christian, is symbolically expressed. In the book of the revelations of John the Theologian, the expression Alpha and Omega is often found - the end and beginning of everything: “Behold, I am coming soon, and My retribution is with Me, to reward everyone according to his deeds. I am Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, First and Last. " Not lost in the dollar and the letter Alpha or "A", which occurs on the bill, like many other things, exactly thirteen times.
Lucky number thirteen
The fear of the damn dozen has long been rooted in the minds of people, in some hotels they even deliberately do not make the thirteenth number, "unlucky number". Nevertheless, the creators of the dollar definitely sympathized with him, if only because the States were once formed from the former thirteen colonies. The first flag of independent America had thirteen stripes and stars.
On the one dollar bill, there are thirteen alphas, thirteen arrows in the eagle's paw, symbolizing the military strength of Congress, thirteen steps of the pyramid, thirteen stars, indicating the colonies that have achieved freedom through their unity.
Thirteen letters and in the Latin inscription on the ribbon, held by an eagle: "E Pluribus Unum" ("One of many"). By the way, the original inscription in Latin sounds like Ex Pluribus Unum. The X was deliberately removed to keep the dollar key number thirteen.
Pyramid
Perhaps the most mysterious dollar symbol is the unfinished pyramid topped with the “all-seeing divine eye,” a recognizable Masonic sign. According to the official version, the pyramid symbol means "strength and prosperity" and symbolizes the newly created United States, hence the thirteen steps in the number of colonies.
The incompleteness of the pyramid means the incompleteness of the state, the potential for its expansion. The phrase, located under the pyramid "NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM" ("New law for the ages"), in the words of Charles Thomson, one of the first leaders of the Congress, symbolizes the "new American era", which according to his ideas began with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Here, too, there is an appeal to Christianity.
According to researcher Ovason, the founders of the new state hoped to bring to the world a new order based on Christian values. In other words, the inscription declares America a "new world order."
By the way, the Roman numerals at the foot of the pyramid - MDCCLXXVI, which cause today no less discussion than the "all-seeing eye", indicate the year of the adoption of the Declaration: M - 1,000, D - 500, CC - 200, L - 50, XX - 20, VI - 6. The total is 1776.
All-seeing eye
In the "eye" crowning the pyramid, some researchers see the image of the left eye of the Egyptian god Horus - "wadget", which symbolizes the moon. According to ancient Egyptian mythology, Horus lost him in a battle with the god of chaos Set. Healed by the god Thoth, the eye became a powerful amulet that signified world order, from royal power to fertility. In history, as you know, important religious symbols do not disappear, but are borrowed by other religions, passing through a certain transformation.
According to Ovason, this also happened with the Eye of Horus, which became part of the Christianity that spread in Egypt. In the context of the new religion, he turned into the "eye of the all-seeing God." Basically, this symbol is found in Catholicism, although it can be seen on some Orthodox icons and churches. Subsequently, the sign began to be used by Masons, among whom it turned into a "Radiant Delta", reminiscent of the all-pervading Creator.
Despite the widespread belief that the "All-Seeing Eye" was placed on the dollar by the Freemasons, there is no reason to say that it was so. According to the memoirs of the creators themselves, the "eye" symbolizes the omnipotence of God, who observes the new state and the order it has adopted.
Owl, spider and skull
If you look closely, you can see a miniature owl perched on a rest on the frame framing the unit. According to historian Alfred Siegert, it appeared on the bill after the Great Depression and Nixon's rejection of the gold standard. Economists joke: "Until the owl is removed, we will not see an increase in the rate."
In general, the owl on the dollar has many faces. Someone sees in it a spider, which, according to the designers' idea, "weaved a web around the unit", someone is just a bunch of lines, and some manage to see pirate symbols there - a skull and two crossed bones. According to the official version, the "owl" has no symbolic meaning.