Probably from BASIC. Early versions required String field names to start with a $ (ie $a, $bc, etc.) If it didn't, it was assumed numeric and you usualy ended up with a letter that resulted in a zero. This is from MBASIC, circa 1975. Also, field names were limited to only two characters back then, and if they started with i thru r they were considered integer, otherwise floating. How did we ever survive? ;-)