I interrupt my multi-part series in ancient and Medieval wonders for a quick nod to my friends over the Atlantic. In honor of today’s Independence Day, here is the amazing tale of one of the best-known symbols of all time: the dollar, or $. No keyboard is complete without it, nor any Scrooge Mc Duck comic.

So, how did this symbol came to be? The answer is to be found in a fascinating post by Atlas Obscura.

A Wealthy Irish Merchant Named Scroodge Pollock

Wars cost money. So when the Revolutionary War broke out, the Colonies turned to a number of sources for backing. The top contributors to America’s Independence were the Kingdoms of France and Spain, the Dutch banking conglomerate, and a single Irish merchant based in New Orleans. His seldom remembered name was Oliver Pollock.America was a British colony in revolt, so the preferred…