This is an alternate symbol for the planet Neptune. Observatory director François Arago proposed for the new planet the name <i>Leverrier</i> (for discoverer Urbain Le Verrier) and this symbol, based on an LV ligature.
<bdi><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Fran%C3%A7ois_Arago" class="extiw" title="w:en:François Arago"><span title="French mathematician, physicist, astronomer and politician (1786-1853)">François Arago</span></a>
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Originally published in <i>Astronomische Nachrichten</i>, vol. 25, no. 581, cols. 81-82.