¥

Description
A capital letter Y, crossed by one or two horizontal lines.

Etymology
or The two lines represent the other two letters in the word 'yen'. One of the earliest uses of ¥ can be found in J. Twizell Wawn’s “Japanese Municipal Government With an Account of the Administration of the City of Kobe”, published in 1899. Usage of the sign increased in the early 20th century, primarily in Western English-speaking countries, but has also become commonly used in Japan as well.

Symbol

 * 1) The symbol for yen, the currency of Japan
 * 2) The symbol for the yuan, the currency of China