# Is it correct to put two strokes on an australian dollar sign? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2005, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052 "2005-03-05T06:45:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skellington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Skellington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skellington)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/1 "2005-03-05T06:45:26Z")
could someone please help me?! I’ve spent many hours on the net trying to find the answer to this question: Which is correct, one stroke or two on an australian dollar sign? Is it correct to use either? Or both? And what ever the answer is how can I prove it? I need as much history on this as possible. Any Info very welcome! Thanks!! ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/2 "2005-03-05T06:46:49Z")
One stroke, I’m not sure how you prove it. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/3 "2005-03-05T06:49:45Z")
How about this. The australian currency is called the “dollar” and by definition the dollar sign is $ with one stroke. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/4 "2005-03-05T06:51:27Z")
Meant to add [this](http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;jsessionid=8ccnamaq9ljot?method=4&dsid=501&dekey=dollar+sign&gwp=8&curtab=501_1&sbid=lc03b). ---
**Author:** ![Skellington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Skellington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skellington)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/5 "2005-03-05T06:55:30Z")
> [@1920s Style "Death Ray"](#): > > How about this. The australian currency is called the “dollar” and by definition the dollar sign is $ with one stroke. crap that was fast! new question: the USD is called a ‘Dollar’ too (isn’t it?) and as far as I’ve seen it only ever has two strokes. Can you explain this too? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/6 "2005-03-05T07:05:04Z")
According to [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_dollar) the symbol for the US dollar is normally $. I suspect the double stroke may be an affectation on the part of its users. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/7 "2005-03-05T07:06:08Z")
Circumstancial evidence: My american (microsoft) keyboard only has the $ symbol, no double strokes. ---
**Author:** ![Skellington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Skellington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skellington)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/8 "2005-03-05T07:13:14Z")
> [@1920s Style "Death Ray"](#): > > Circumstancial evidence: My american (microsoft) keyboard only has the $ symbol, no double strokes. Thanks heaps for that. If you find anything else on it please send it this way! ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/9 "2005-03-05T07:25:16Z")
> [@1920s Style "Death Ray"](#): > > My american (microsoft) keyboard only has the $ symbol, no double strokes. Microsoft should certainly be considered experts in that field 😉 The double-stroke always seems to be superfluous to me, as with the horizontal bars on the pound (£) symbol. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/10 "2005-03-05T07:31:32Z")
I always understood that the two strokes in the US $ symbol (can’t find a two-stroke symbol to use) stood for the letters ‘U’ and ‘S’ written on top of each other. Later usage dropped the loop bit at the bottom of the ‘U’. My distinct recollection, although I can find no website to back this up, is that when Australia was converting to decimal currency, we were to use only one downstroke, to differentiate **our** dollar symbol from that of the US. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/11 "2005-03-05T07:33:37Z")
Here’s a link to the Decimal Currency Act, 1965. [http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/Catalog/legislation/Acts/d/1965.60.htm](http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/Catalog/legislation/Acts/d/1965.60.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Skellington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Skellington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skellington)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/12 "2005-03-05T07:36:13Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Microsoft should certainly be considered experts in that field 😉 The double-stroke always seems to be superfluous to me, as with the horizontal bars on the pound (£) symbol. I didn’t know that it wasn’t always used in america. In australia it is a pretty strict rule that one stroke = AUD, two strokes = USD. I hope to prove that you can’t put two strokes on an australian dollar sign. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/13 "2005-03-05T07:44:22Z")
[Origin and history of the dollar sign](http://www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/arian/dollar.html) has some interesting background. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/14 "2005-03-05T07:46:12Z")
And [this site](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_178.html) has information. ---
**Author:** ![Skellington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Skellington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skellington)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/15 "2005-03-05T07:56:39Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > I always understood that the two strokes in the US $ symbol (can’t find a two-stroke symbol to use) stood for the letters ‘U’ and ‘S’ written on top of each other. Later usage dropped the loop bit at the bottom of the ‘U’. > > My distinct recollection, although I can find no website to back this up, is that when Australia was converting to decimal currency, we were to use only one downstroke, to differentiate **our** dollar symbol from that of the US. I this my be almost right. The U and S theory was accepted and even published untill someone found that the symbol (in both its forms) long before the US was called the US. However, giving credence to side, the USD symbol had long been in use by the time the AUD came into use. So the second part my be true. I will keep trying to prove it and any more info from anyone would be great. ---
**Author:** ![Skellington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Skellington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skellington)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/16 "2005-03-05T08:02:06Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > And [this site](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_178.html) has information. thanks for the links but I’ve seen them all (I spent most of lastnight on google). But please don’t let that stop you 'cos as you can see I’m still looking! ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/17 "2005-03-05T09:20:15Z")
Every time I went to Mexico, I quickly figured out that one-stroke was American currency, in case you were American or were able to pay in hard currency, and two-stroke was pesos. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/18 "2005-03-05T13:27:41Z")
Could it be that two strokes were used in handwriting and one stroke in typewriters (for technical reasons - difficulty of making a two-stroke S ?). ? ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/19 "2005-03-06T04:30:42Z")
I have never come across any previous references to the one-stroke v.s. two-stroke dollar sign as having different meanings. As far as I am aware, the differences are merely style choices for print fonts, and the same for written signs. I checked the fonts installed on my computer, and the single stroke seems to be the norm for the simpler styles, with the fancier fonts having single strokes, double strokes, and “mini-strokes” where the stroke is shown at the top and bottom, but doesn’t extend through the body of the sign. So, IMHO, style choice with no inherent difference in meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052/20 "2005-03-06T22:50:00Z")
The [historical material](http://www.rba.gov.au/Museum/Displays/1960_1988_rba_and_reform_of_the_currency/introducing_the_new_decimal_notes.html) available on the site of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) sends a slightly mixed message and suggests that it wasn’t entirely clear at the time of the 1966 decimalisation campaign whether the one-stroke dollar sign or the two-stroke dollar sign would be used. Certainly the memorable \*Dollar Bill \* character has the two strokes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-correct-to-put-two-strokes-on-an-australian-dollar-sign/293052.md?page=2)