# Is this the dollar $ymbol on ancient Roman sex coins? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 4, 2012, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347 "2012-01-04T05:13:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/1 "2012-01-04T05:13:54Z")
I know the usual origin theories for the dollar symbol ($)- it’s usually related to Spanish New World coins, i.e. post 1492 A.D… However, while I was looking for pictures of spintria, coins used in Roman brothels, never mind why, I noticed that there’s something that looks like a dollar sign in at least two of these coins. Warning: though they’re almost 2,000 years old, the images on these coins are sexually explicit. (If you’re not familiar with how they worked: one side of the coin features a specific sexual act and the other side tells [in Roman numerals] how many coins that costs.) So, all disclaimers in place- Full article with [not safe for work and explicit ancient images](http://neoncobra.blogspot.com/2010/05/ancient-roman-coins-with-sex-scenes.html) The coins I’m referring to are [this one](http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ySCIT3KO9Zc/S_PomFZnFcI/AAAAAAAARE4/77axFxmlpWI/coins-3%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800) (center, bottom, under the bed) and [this one](http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ySCIT3KO9Zc/S_Ponu4k5DI/AAAAAAAARFA/tA1hp4jOJQo/coins-5%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800) (bottom, slightly right). Does anybody know what this symbol is? ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/2 "2012-01-04T05:44:27Z")
I don’t think so, but then I have no idea. But on that first coin, is he whipping her or is that a leash? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/3 "2012-01-04T05:59:57Z")
> [@Foggy](#): > > But on that first coin, is he whipping her or is that a leash? Only one way to find out… but it’ll cost you 6 coins. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/4 "2012-01-04T14:02:15Z")
I believe it’s just a contraction for “Sp”. Lest anyone should get them confused for a sestertius, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/5 "2012-01-04T14:07:03Z")
It doesn’t look like a symbol so much as an object in the scene being illustrated - certainly on the second coin, anyway, although the central placement on the first one makes a symbol perhaps more likely. If it is a symbol, could it be a monogram of the designer or producer of the coin? ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/6 "2012-01-04T14:41:18Z")
It also appears that anal sex was cheaper than oral sex. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/7 "2012-01-04T16:15:22Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > It also appears that anal sex was cheaper than oral sex. Especially if you want it in that order. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/8 "2012-01-04T20:24:35Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > It also appears that anal sex was cheaper than oral sex. And homosexual sex is a coin cheaper than heterosexual sex. Looking at the “leash” one and judging by the price, I think it might be frottage as opposed to intercourse. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/9 "2012-01-06T20:52:09Z")
Did the Romans have inter-specific brothels? Because I’m looking at the very last coin on the page, and wondering what’s up with that. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/10 "2012-01-06T20:58:25Z")
> [@Sal\_Ammoniac](#): > > Did the Romans have inter-specific brothels? Because I’m looking at the very last coin on the page, and wondering what’s up with that. I’ve read of shows that featured bestiality, but I’ve never read of it in brothels. I think that’s two animals on that coin, though either way I don’t know what it means. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/11 "2012-01-06T21:12:17Z")
Apropos to the above, the Empress Theodora was said by Procopius (in his bitchy Secret History) to have had an act when she was still a young prostitute that involved her getting it on with a goose. And in one of the episodes of HBO’s _Rome_ has this great moment ([NSFW](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llquJck7D-0), but due to spoken of rather than seen bestiality). ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/12 "2012-01-06T21:39:46Z")
A butt-fuck cost only VI, but a lap dance cost XIII! I thought one of them showed girl on girl action, but couldn’t be sure. If it was, perhaps some working ladies had some female clientele. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/13 "2012-01-06T22:38:27Z")
**Johanna** , maybe that particular lapdance was for the VIP room, with mandatory bottle service 😃 Actually I notice that in three of them the S is clean by itself ([example1](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ySCIT3KO9Zc/S_Pomm23ejI/AAAAAAAARE8/ZMIdWAILQj0/coins-4%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800), [example2](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ySCIT3KO9Zc/S_PorqJCSxI/AAAAAAAARFY/JN8NbGiN-fU/coins-10_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800),[example 3](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ySCIT3KO9Zc/S_Pooxi57AI/AAAAAAAARFI/SBOJ6A4V5ac/coins-7%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800)) . In the ones the OP points out you can see it’s not really a “$”, but that the upstroke stops exactly at the centerpoint in the S, and continues below almost as far, ending in a serif. In two others (Handjob X and “ass-to-chest” XIII) one can see at the bottom edge very faintly some three letter inscription starting with “s”, So what is standard seems to be the “S” part. I would go with **Telperion** ’s hypothesis, of an inconsistently applied mark to indicate spintria. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/14 "2012-01-06T22:43:52Z")
Off-topic, but the prices seem way off. It seems more like sex acts were numbered than each sex act had a specific monetary value. A handjob is _ten_? It’s more than a blowjob, or various kinds of penetration (as best I can tell from the pictures)? ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/15 "2012-01-07T02:03:45Z")
Well, these coins are probably from different times and places. We’re likely to be stretching a point if we consider them to be on a common value scale. Not that it’s not fun to speculate, mind you. ---
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/16 "2012-01-07T03:46:52Z")
I’m surprised that man-on-giantess pony play was so inexpensive, to be honest. Maybe there was a glut in the market. I’m also surprised that I just typed that. Or that anyone has. Ever. Maybe the number on the back isn’t the price, but a sort of menu number? – “I’ll take a number II combo and a number VI. Heavy on the olive oil. Oh, and a large grappa. Supersize the VI.” ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/17 "2012-01-09T16:53:00Z")
So… Anyone realize that our very own Cecil Adams did [an article on spintriae](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2355/pay-for-play) which addresses several of the questions raised in this thread? Not the dollar sign similarity, but the use, timeframe, etc. of the coins. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Pops1963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de053/32.png) [@Pops1963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pops1963)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-dollar-ymbol-on-ancient-roman-sex-coins/608347/18 "2012-01-10T03:06:33Z")
"I’ll take a number II combo and a number VI. Heavy on the olive oil. Oh, and a large grappa. Supersize the VI Wonder what they had on the dollar menu.