Английский Этимологический словарь - dollar

- 1553, from Low Ger. daler, from Ger. taler, abbrev. of Joachimstaler, lit. "(gulden) of Joachimstal," coin minted 16c. from silver from mine near Joachimstal, town in Erzgebirge Mountains in northwest Bohemia. Eng. colonists in Amer. used the word for Spanish pieces of eight. Continental Congress 1785 adopted dollar when it set up U.S. currency, on suggestion of Governeur Morris and Thomas Jefferson, because the term was widely known but not British. The dollar sign ($) is said to derive from the image of the Pillars of Hercules, stamped with a scroll, on the Spanish piece of eight.