Signs of the Times

We often use symbols to represent ordinary things that might take too long or be too cumbersome to write out, or for any of a lot of different reasons. At one time, for instance, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince wanted to be known as -


Symbols are often used to represent major currencies. The pound, dollar, yen, and Euro are represented by these symbols -


Thus, we could write "Ten thousand dollars," or "$10,000," or even "$10K" (or, if you work for the government, "$10M," "$10B," or even "$10T."

If you're like most of us nowadays, and don't have enough money to use the "K," "M," or "B" shortcuts, the symbol for cent is often used -

¢

It's a big deal for a currency to have its own symbol. It means you've arrived, that you're a major economic player. There's no generally accepted symbol for the Russian ruble, for instance, or (yet) for the Chinese currency (either the yuan or the renminbi, which is simply listed as "CNY").

The Indian rupee now has its own symbol -

The arrival of this spiffy new symbol for the rupee suggests that it's possible to come up with new currency symbols, perhaps to account for changes in the world economy. I thought we might look at introducing a new symbol for the almighty dollar. This one seems appropriate for most of us -


If you're a Republican, this one might be more your style -

Anybody have any other ideas?

Have a good day, if only symbolically.

More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo