Pound sign (was Re: the Telephone Test)

[Norman Diamond]

In article <4238 at ficc.uu.net> peter at ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) writes:
In article <2015 at dlvax2.datlog.co.uk>, gis at datlog.co.uk ( Ian Stewartson ) writes:

>> In passing, I noticed that the SOED defines a dollar with two vertical lines
>> and not the single line on my keyboard.

That is correct.  Some makers of typewriters (remember those?) and
newspaper typefaces (remember those?) decided that it was too much
effort to engrave two parallel bars so close to each other, so they'd
save a few pennies per typewriter (or how much per newspaper) by
simplifying the graphic.  Unfortunately that has spread.  The
foreigner's symbol for yen, and the symbol for Filipino peso, still
include two parallel bars, though the underlying character is not S.
I believe that the $ symbol for peso in Mexico and other places (I
think Spain) might still have two bars.

>The US dollar is supposed to have 2 vertical lines

Yes.

>(it's derived from overstriking U and S).

No.  When the $ symbol was copied, the concept of "United States" had
not been invented yet.

>The dollar symbol with one vertical line is actually
>the Australian dollar sign (derived from overprinting A and S and deciding
>that it looks too much like the US dollar sign, and so simplifying it).

That's cute.  No one else was afraid that their currency symbol looked
too much like peso.

>All rather academic at this point.

Yes.

--
Norman Diamond, Sony Computer Science Lab (diamond%csl.sony.co.jp at relay.cs.net)
  The above opinions are my own.   |  Why are programmers criticized for
  If they're also your opinions,   |  re-implementing the wheel, when car
  you're infringing my copyright.  |  manufacturers are praised for it?