From the number sign page The symbol is traditionally called the pound sign in the US. It derives from a series of abbreviations for pound avoirdupois, a unit of weight. At first "lb." was used; later, printers got a special font made up of an "lb" with a line through the ascenders so that the "l" would not be mistaken for a "1". Unicode sign 2114 in hexadecimal (℔) is called the "LB Bar Symbol," and it is a cursive development of this symbol. Finally came the reduction to two horizontal and two vertical strokes.