Pound Sign

Pound Sign

[Al Christians]

I checked the 1964 edition of the CRC Standard Math Tables, and
found the pound sign in there as meaning pounds weight when it
follows the number and meaning number when it precedes it.  This
was in the commercial mathematics abbreviations section.  Surely
if it was in CRC by 1964, it was in commercial use for some time
before that.  Can someone check an older copy and see how far
back this goes.

Al

Re: Pound Sign

[Robert Dewar]

Al said

"I checked the 1964 edition of the CRC Standard Math Tables, and
found the pound sign in there as meaning pounds weight when it
follows the number and meaning number when it precedes it.  This
was in the commercial mathematics abbreviations section.  Surely
if it was in CRC by 1964, it was in commercial use for some time
before that.  Can someone check an older copy and see how far
back this goes.
"

So, yet another piece of evidence that if anything supports the other
view by being dated at a point where character sets *could* have
influenced things.

Another thought, I don't have a Remington typewriter around, but if I
had one, I would check to see where the pound stirling symbol was and
if the US version of the typewriter had a # in the same place? That
would push the date back quite a bit, but still be a character set based
influence.

I just checked the (very long) entry for pound in the OED. No sign of
anything helpful, and no mention of "pound sign".