https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_sign#Origin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_sign#Origin You can also see http://www.shmoop.com/atlas-shrugged/dollar-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_sign#Origin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_sign#Origin You can also see http://www.shmoop.com/atlas-shrugged/dollar-signs-symbol.html http://www.shmoop.com/atlas-shrugged/dollar-signs-symbol.htm... which discuesses this. "The dollar sign? [It stands] for a great deal. It stands on the vest of every fat, piglike figure in every cartoon, for the purpose of denoting a crook.... It stands – as the money of a free country – for achievement, for success, for ability, for man's creative power – and, precisely for these reasons, it is used as a brand of infamy....It stands for the United States."