"The American Peso" Sheesh.

From Boo Chanco of The Phillipine Star comes word of a "joke circulating in financial circles that the once “almighty US dollar,” is fast turning into the “new American peso.” Since 2001 the dollar has lost more than half its value against the euro. It now costs nearly $1.40 to buy one euro. And it isn’t just the euro that seems to be growing stronger against the US dollar. It has declined against many other major world currencies, and even including minor ones like our (Phillipine) peso, reflecting the dollar’s loss of purchasing power."

As the Los Angeles Times reported, “in much of the world — from Brazil to Poland to Thailand — one dollar buys less than it did a year ago, and far less than it did four years ago. On Friday, the US currency hit a 30-year low against its Canadian peer.”

That gives me an opportunity to finally post this bit of trivia regarding a time when the dollar was worthless and the peso was king.

"Not worth a Continental" was a phrase heard in the 18th and 19th century to describe something as valueless as ...as ...well, the US (Continental) Dollar.

The Brits never sent enough currency to the colonies and, later, the young US couldn't get the hang of issuing its own.

If you wanted to transact in cash ...there was usually only one kind of cold hard stuff: the Spanish Dollar.

The Peso. A piece of eight. The ocho reales.

Not only was it used out of necessity but it was also official US legal tender until the time of the US civil war.

It is also the origin of what yanquis call the "dollar sign."

Those two symbols on the above coin are a likely source of the $. Another is the way peso was abbreviated by writing a "P" on top of an "S" ...sort of a ...later they simply dropped the top part.

"Why can't these people get their OWN damned dollar sign? It's SO confusing!" ...ever hear that around town?

But if you think it's confusing now ...buckle up, Dorothy.