This is actually the REAL code behind instantiating $
Take a look at the github source
jQuery.fn = jQuery.prototype = {
// The current version of jQuery being used
jquery: core_version,
constructor: jQuery,
init: function( selector, context, rootjQuery ) {
var match, elem;
.....
and then at line 263
// Give the init function the jQuery prototype for later instantiation
jQuery.fn.init.prototype = jQuery.fn;
Since you are using the minified version, this gets turned into what you see.