Working with currency and string to integers in php

currency_formatting.php

<?php
/**
 * Function is responsible for stripping anything out of a string value that is meant to 
 * be an currency amount or other float. This function then converts the numbers left
 * into a float value and formatting it appropriately.
 *
 * @param string $string     | Can be anything but mostly for $23.23
 * @return float $string     | returns 23.23 as a valid integer that can be used in math.
 */
function _mint( $string )
{
	$string = str_replace(array('$','&#036;'), '', $string);
	$string = trim(preg_replace("([^0-9.])", "", $string));
	$string = number_format(floatval($string), 2, '.', ',');
	return $string;
}