Currency sign

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For the 3-letter "currency codes" see: ISO 4217.

Note: This article contains special characters.

A currency sign is a graphic symbol often used as a shorthand for a currency's name. Internationally, ISO 4217 codes are used instead of currency signs, though currency signs may be in common use in their respective countries. Most currencies in the world have no specific symbol.

When writing currency amounts the location of the sign varies by currency. Many currencies, especially in Latin America and the English-speaking world, place it before the amount (e.g., £50.00); many others place it after the amount (e.g., 50.00 S₣); and, before they were abolished, the sign for the Portuguese escudo and the French franc were placed in the decimal position (i.e., 50$00 or 12₣34). The standardized European default placement, used in absence of a national standard, is that (€) is placed before the amount. However, many Eurozone countries have sustained or generated alternative conventions.

The decimal separator can also take local countries' standards. For instance, the United Kingdom often uses a middle dot as the decimal point on price stickers (e.g., '£5·52'), although not in print. A comma (e.g., '5,00 €') is a common separator used in other countries. See decimal separator for information on international standards.

[edit] Examples

Currency symbols in use as of 2006. ([1])

¤ Generic currency sign (used when the correct sign is not available)
฿ Thai baht sign
Bs Venezuelan bolívar and Bolivian boliviano
Br Belarusian Rouble sign
₵ Ghanaian cedi sign
¢ Cent sign (a subdivision of dollars and some other currencies)
₡ Colón sign (used in Costa Rica and in El Salvador)
₫ Vietnamese đồng sign
€ Euro sign (used in participating European Union member countries (Eurozone), a few small non-EU European microstates, Montenegro, and Kosovo)
ƒ Aruban Florin sign. Formerly used for the Dutch guilder – see also florin.
Ft Hungarian forint sign
Rs. Pakistani Rupees sign
Rs. Indian Rupees sign
₲ Paraguayan guaraní sign
₭ Lao kip sign
kr short for Danish krone, Norwegian krone, Swedish krona, Icelandic króna and Estonian kroon
£ Pound sign (also used for the lira)
₥ Mill sign (a thousandth / one-tenth of a cent)
₦ Nigerian naira sign
₱ Philippine peso sign
P Botswana pula sign
Q Guatemalan Quetzal sign
R South African rand sign
Rp rupiah sign in Indonesia
৲ rupee mark (Bengal)
৳ rupee sign (Bengal)
RON Romanian leu (Romania)
R$ Brazilian real sign
S/. Peruvian sol sign
$ Dollar sign (used for many other currencies in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, and elsewhere, such as the different pesos, and formerly for the Portuguese escudo as the cifrão; sometimes written with two vertical strokes and can be prefixed with a letter to differentiate currencies as in C$)
Kazakhstani tenge sign
₮ Mongolian tögrög sign
₩ Korean won sign (used in both South and North Korea.)
¥ Chinese Renminbi yuan/Japanese yen sign
zł Polish Złoty sign
₴ Ukrainian hryvnia sign
₪ Israeli new sheqel sign
៛ Cambodian riel sign
ریال Iranian Rial sign
руб Russian ruble
Kč Czech koruna sign
S₣ Swiss Franc sign
Д Serbian Dinar sign
RM Malaysian ringgit

[edit] Formerly used currency signs

₳ Argentine austral sign
Cr$ Brazilian cruzeiro sign
₰ pre-1945 German Reichsmark pfennig sign
₯ Greek drachma sign
₠ ECU sign (not widely used, and now historical; replaced by the euro)
₣ French franc sign (formerly used in France [most people preferred to write "FF"], and currently used in CFA and CFP franc areas)
₤ Lira sign (formerly used in Italy, San Marino and Vatican City, and sometimes in Malta; also may be confused with or used for GBP)
Lm Malta Lira sign
Kčs Czechoslovak koruna sign
Sk Slovak koruna
ℳ pre-1945 German Reichsmark sign
₧ Spanish peseta sign (formerly used in Spain and Andorra. Most people preferred to write "pts" instead .)
Rs. Indian Rupees sign
ƒ Dutch gulden sign, currently used in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba