Crossword Genius

An old coin from the South? (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sou

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'an old coin' is the definition.
(historical French coin)

'from the south?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'from' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is present in the answer.
'south?' could be 's' (abbreviation) and 's' is found within the answer.
A single letter 'u' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for sou that I've seen before include "Something of little worth" , "Old French monetary unit" , "Old French small coin" , "bit of money" , "French bread once" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.
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