Why does BUCK mean "a Dollar"? (CR)

[Hannah]

I introduced here a book which explains etymological origin of words and idioms a while ago.
I found out it is so interesting that I want to share it with you.
Can I post some parts of the book now and then?
I will indicate the source for sure.

Why does buck mean "a Dollar"?

Buck has meant "male deer" since the year 1000 in England and has meant "a dollar" in America since 1856. Despite the time gap, the two meanings are closely linked. In the early eighteenth century, traders and hunters used buckskin as a basic unit of trade. Any frontiersman who possessed many buckskins was considered a wealthy man.
How did buck come to mean specifically one dollar? In the early West, poker was the diversion of choice. A marker or counter was placed to the left of the dealer to indicate who was the next to deal. This marker was traditionally called the buck, because the first markers were buckhorn knives. But in the Old West, silver dollars (i.e., one dollar), instead of knives were used as bucks.
The buck as poker counter yields the expression‎ pass the buck, a favorite of politicians and bureaucrats everywhere, who usually are more than happy to evade responsibility for governing, dealing poker, or just about anything else, which was why it was so surprising to hear Harry Truman, an admitted poker player, announce, "The buck stops here."

-- from "Who put the butter in butterfly?" written by David Feldman --



(picture from www.trumanlibrary.org)

[유진승]

found out it is so interesting -> I find it so interesting / This is really fascinating. My deep conviction is that the different senses of a word are related by similarity. This is how I explained the meaning of "mouse" in my column. But there are words whose senses do not seem to

[유진승]

show any similarity at all. "Buck" is certainly this word. Another word is "bank", meaning money bank and river bank. But your message tells us that even this kind of words have sense similarity if we look back long enough. Thank you very much for this, hanna. I will move it to the 어휘/문법 board.

[Hannah]

Thank YOU as always! BTW, where can I read your column about 'mouse'? I can't find it.

[유진승]

Please go to "어휘 사용 터득의 길(1): 어휘는 느낌이다" in the 학습법 board.