The Wikipedia article about the # sign has its own shaky theories about the origin of the symbol, but I’m finding that there’s a striking resemblance between the shape of a German Current capital “N” and the #, a scribble that has evolved to mean “Number.” Tell me with a straight face that you don’t also notice the resemblance here.
And is it no mistake that N and # stand for “Number?” I think not. Too many striking similarities, in my opinion.
But what do I know.
The symbol is called "hash" in the UK, and no one calls it a "pound sign" — we have an entirely different key for that. Hence, I agree with the Wikipedia article about the old character-sets causing much of the confusion. I like your suggestion, though.
I know, right? Even in the US, calling it a "pound sign" feels pretty dated. I only ever hear prerecorded teleprompts call it that. "Please enter the last four digits of your security code, followed by the pound sign." It's a symbol that's much more commonly seen in social media as a hashtag. I just don't think it looks very similar to the "L" British pound sign, or at least it seems to be more similar to this scribbled N. Especially because the symbol in the US seems to most often mean something "Nro." or "Num", an abbreviation for number. It's so weird. I guess we'll never really know.
Or maybe the similarity I noticed isn't the "origin" per se, but it might be one reason why the # was associated as a symbol for an abbreviation for the word "Number."
I would be half-tempted to mention this theory on the Talk pages of the Wikipedia article, although I've rarely seen anyone take any action in conjunction suggestions on those pages.
So, I was considering suggesting this on wikipedia, but didn't actually do it until you nudged me. I have never done anything at all on wikipedia's talk pages before. And it appears I signed it completely wrong, so that's…noobish of me. But! Thanks! I learned something new.