I’m working with a manuscript from 1892 and have encountered a dynamic marking which I’ve not encountered before - as shown, these fortes are preceded by a small, circular, degree-like symbol. Can anyone provide an explanation for how such a dynamic should be shown and played?
If I squint, they almost look like a small cursive ‘s’ (so, sf). But there are more experienced engravers lurking around that may have an actual answer instead of a guess 
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Thanks for weighing in on this - the composer (Stanford) uses sf throughout the score and when he does there’s no question he means sf - this is different. Thanks again.
Another possibility would be a p so pF, whatever that means (play with forte character but in piano volume?). (Which piece is this? Can you share the whole manuscript to see the context?)
The MS is on Archive.org at MS 4248 - Becket / composed by C. Villiers Stanford. : Stanford, Charles Villiers, 1852-1924 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
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Yes, I feel very confident too that they are sF: I think what happened is that the copyist (or was it Stanford itself?) used a different pen (feather) to write the dynamics on page 1 vs subsequent pages: it is even more evident if you see the violins in pg 1 and 2: same music material and meaning. Probably the pencil used in page one didn’t make nice s (while the F looks fuller and nicer):
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