Following recent discussions, such as the one I've had with @dragosroua (discussion, follow-up post by him), it is clear that the choice by Steemit.com (and Busy.org, and others), to display post rewards following the $ symbol is leading to much unnecessary confusion, as the number on display has no relation whatsoever to the United States Dollar, or the Australian Dollar, and only a translated relationship to the Steem-Backed Dollar.
The number is actually a translated representation of the only real currency Steemit uses, the VESTS. As such, I suggest changing the icon, to remove said confusion.
I am not a graphic designer, and my attempt to make a V symbol super-imposed by the Steemit Triple-S failed, so I made a mock-up of S. Here it is:
Any graphical designer willing to take the mantle should do so. And even if we just replace the symbol to "SV" for "Steemit Value" or "VS" for "Vest Steem" or whatever, I believe that the symbol needs to change to facilitate a better understanding of the system by reducing misunderstandings as to the information conveyed. At a late stage, it might be better to rework the displayed numbers entirely so they'd better represent what will be received, without the need for math on the users' part.
With this change though, people will at least know they don't know the currency the rewards are denominated in, and perhaps seek out information, rather than assume wrongly.