Hello,
Sorry but we are not sure if we understand your question correctly. Do you need to add the template symbol to the template before working with phpdocx or using template methods?
If the template symbol is added as regular content in the template in the same paragraph that includes placeholders, we recommend using other symbol to wrap placeholders (https://www.phpdocx.com/api-documentation/templates/set-Word-template-placeholder-variable-symbol). The next version of phpdocx (there's no release date yet) will include support for ${ } syntax and others to wrap placeholders.
You can insert $ using template methods without escaping it.
Regards.