virgule (n.)

gold coin, late 14c., plural solidi, used of the English shilling as well as the Roman gold coin, from Late Latin solidus, name of an imperial Roman coin (worth about 25 denarii, introduced by Constantine the Great), in full nummus solidus, literally "solid coin," properly a coin of thick or solid metal, not of thin plate. See solid (adj.).

As the name of the oblique slash or dash separating shillings from pence in English prices (sometimes called a shilling mark and said to be a modified long -S- to denote "shillings") by 1891. It is also known as a virgule and is conventionally used as a substitute for the horizontal line in fractions or the division sign.