Secretly Incredibly Fascinating: The Dollar Sign

Episode notes

Alex Schmidt, Katie Goldin, and special guest Ross Blocher explore why the dollar sign is secretly incredibly fascinating.

Visit http://sifpod.fun/ for research sources, handy links, and this week’s bonus episode.

LINKS FOR ROSS BLOCHER:

• Oh No, Ross And Carrie! (Maximum Fun)
• Ross Blocher Recites 3,200 Places of Pi – March 24, 2022 (YouTube)
• Ross Blocher on Instagram
• Conspiracy Chart by Abbie Richards, referenced by Ross on the episode

LINKS FOR KATIE GOLDIN:

• Katie Goldin on Twitter
• @ProBirdRights
• ‘Creature Feature’ podcast (iHeartRadio)
• When Is a Bird a ‘Birb’? An Extremely Important Guide (Audubon)

RESOURCES USED TO INFORM THE EPISODE’S LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

• native-land.ca
• U.S. Department Of Arts And Culture
• The True Native New Yorkers Can Never Truly Reclaim Their Homeland (Smithsonian)
• “Finding Lenapehoking” (YouTube / Hudson River Maritime Museum)
• Why Do They Call It Beacon? (The Highlands Current)
• Dutch & Native American Heritage In The Hudson River Valley (National Park Service)

RESEARCH SOURCES:

• Oliver Pollock – Supporter of the Revolution, Creator of ‘$’ (The U.S. National Archives)
• Fort Stanwix National Monument: Spanish Coins (U.S. National Park Service)
• Monument to Inventor of the Dollar Sign — Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Roadside America)
• The Bankrupt Irishman Who Created the Dollar Sign by Accident (Atlas Obscura)
• Sculpture of Oliver Pollock — Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Atlas Obscura)
• 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created by Charles C. Mann
• Monetary Design Mystery: The Nebulous Origins of America’s Iconic Dollar Sign (article for the 99% Invisible website, by Kurt Kohlstedt)
• The curious origins of the dollar symbol (BBC WorkLife)
• Encyclopedia Britannica entry for Argentina, featuring name origin
• New Orleans history starter pack: a beginner’s guide to understanding the Crescent City (The Historic New Orleans Collection)
• The Louisiana Purchase: Napoleonic France Acquires Louisiana (The Library Of Congress)
• “Oliver Pollock And George Rogers Clark’s Service Of Supply: A Case Study In Financial Disaster” by Light Townsend Cummins, Austin College (U.S. National Park Service) — this is one source for Oliver Pollock’s involvement in slave trading. He likely participated in New Orleans, during his second round of making a fortune.
• On this day [September 9, 1776], the name “United States of America” becomes official (National Constitution Center)
• Money in Colonial Times (Federal Reserve Bank Philadelphia)
• 1 Pine Tree Shilling, United States, 1652 (Smithsonian National Museum Of American History)
• This Month in Business History: United States Mint Founded (The Library Of Congress)
• Encyclopedia Britannica entry for the Treaty of Versailles, signed 1919, went into effect 1920
• The Federal Reserve: Learn more about the history and functions of the United States’ central bank. (National Geographic)
• “The Wizard of Oz as a Monetary Allegory”, by Dr. Hassan Shirvani, University Of St. Thomas Houston — this is one rundown of the theory that ‘The Wizard Of Oz’ might be about late 1800s U.S. monetary policy.
• original proposal for a “Money Mouth Face” emoji, 2014
• 1966: Switch to decimal currency (National Museum Australia)
• A brief history of New Zealand currency (NZ Post)
• “A History Of The Canadian Dollar” by James Powell, Bank Of Canada