Currency symbol

A currency symbol is a graphic symbol used as a shorthand for a currency's name, especially in reference to amounts of money.

Although many former currency symbols were rendered obsolete by the adoption of the euro, having a new and unique currency symbol – implementation of which requires the adoption of new Unicode and type formats – has now become a status symbol for international currencies. The European Commission considers the global recognition of the euro sign € part of its success. In 2009, India launched a public competition to replace the ₨ ligature it shared with neighbouring countries.^[1] It finalised its new currency symbol, ₹ (₹) on 15 July 2010. It is a blend of the Latin letter 'R' with the Devanagari letter 'र' (ra).

Usage

When writing currency amounts the location of the symbol varies by currency. Many currencies in the English-speaking world and Latin America, place it before the amount (e.g., R$50,00). The Cape Verdean escudo places its symbol in the decimal separator position (i.e., 20$00).^[2] The usage of many European countries, such as France, Germany, Scandinavian countries, is to place the symbol after the amount 20,50€.

The decimal separator also follows local countries' standards. For instance, the United Kingdom often uses an interpunct as the decimal point on price stickers (e.g., £5·52), although not in print. Commas (e.g. €5,00) or decimal points (e.g. $50.00) are common separators used in other countries. See decimal separator for information on international standards.

Design

Official dimensions of the euro sign

Dimensions of the symbol in a selection of type faces

Older currency symbols have evolved slowly, often from previous currencies. The dollar and peso symbols originated from the mark employed to denote the Spanish real de a ocho, whereas the pound and lira symbols evolved from an L standing for libra, a Roman pound of silver. Newly invented currencies and currencies adopting new symbols have symbolism closer to their adopter. The added center bar in the real sign is meant to symbolize stability.^[3] The new Indian rupee symbol, ₹, is a stylised combination of Latin and Devanagari letters.

There are also other considerations, such as the perception of the business community and how the symbol is rendered on computers. For a new symbol to be used, software to render it needs to be promulgated and keyboards need to be altered or shortcuts added to type the icon. The EU was criticized for not considering how the euro symbol would need to be customized to work in different fonts.^[1] The original design was also exceptionally wide. These two factors have led to most typefaces employing customized, font-specific versions, usually with reduced width.

List of presently-circulating currency symbols

Symbol	Uses	Notes
¤¤	ZzzGeneric currency sign	Used when the correct symbol is not available
Afg؋	AfghaniAfghan afghani
ArAr	AriaryMalagasy ariary[4]
ɃɃ	BitcoinBitcoin	Unicode Character (U+0243) http://bitcoinsymbol.org/
B฿	BahtThai baht
BZB/.	BalboaPanamanian balboa
BrBr	BirrEthiopian birr Belarusian ruble
BsBs.	BolivianoVenezuelan bolívar Bolivian boliviano	Bolívar sometimes Bs.F.
BsFBs.F.	BolivarVenezuelan bolívar variant	Usually Bs.
C1GH₵	CediGhana cedi
c1¢	cent1cent, centavo, &c.	A centesimal subdivision of currencies such as the US dollar, the Canadian dollar, and the Mexican peso. (See article.) See also c
c2c	cent2cent &c. variant	Preferred by currencies such as the Australian, New Zealand, South African cents; the West African CFA centime; and the divisions of the euro. See also ¢
chCh.	chhertumBhutanese chhertum	A centesimal division of the ngultrum.
C2₡	ColonCosta Rican colón, symbol was also used for the Salvadoran colón.	The Salvadoran colón was discontinued in 2001 and it was replaced by the US dollar.
C3C$	CórdobaNicaraguan córdoba
D1D	DalasiGambian dalasi
Denден	DenarMacedonian denar	Latin form: DEN
DAدج	DinarAAlgerian dinar	Latin form: DA
DB.د.ب	DinarBBahraini dinar	Latin form: BD
IDد.ع	DinarIIraqi dinar
JDJD	DinarJJordanian dinar
DKد.ك	DinarKKuwaiti dinar	Latin form: K.D.
LDل.د	DinarLLibyan dinar	Latin form: LD
Dinдин	DinarSSerbian dinar	Latin form: din.
DTد.ت	DinarTTunisian dinar	Latin form: DT
DMد.م.	DirhamMMoroccan dirham	Latin forms: DH or Dhs
DHد.إ	DirhamUUnited Arab Emirates dirham	Latin forms: DH or Dhs
DbDb	DobraSão Tomé and Príncipe dobra
S1$	DollarAustralian (A$), Bahamian (B$), Barbadian (Bds$), Belizean (BZ$), Bermudian (BD$), Brunei (B$), Canadian (Can$), Cayman Islands (CI$), East Caribbean (EC$), Fiji (FJ$), Guyanese (G$),[5] Hong Kong (HK$/元/圓), Jamaican (J$), Kiribati, Liberian (L$), Linden Dollar (Second Life virtual world) (L$ or LD$), Namibian (N$), New Zealand (NZ$), Singaporean (S$), Solomon Islands (SI$), Surinamese (SRD), Taiwanese (NT$/元/圓), Trinidad and Tobago (TT$), Tuvaluan, United States (US$), and Zimbabwean (Z$) dollars Argentine, Chilean (CLP$), Colombian (COL$), Cuban ($MN), Cuban convertible (CUC$), Dominican (RD$), Mexican (Mex$), and Uruguayan ($U) pesos	May appear with either one or two bars (), both of which currently share the same Unicode space. Kiribati and Tuvalu's dollars are pegged 1:1 with the Australian dollar. Brunei's dollar is pegged 1:1 with the Singaporean dollar. See also C$ and MOP$ and R$ and T$ and WS$ Unicode: See $ for variants.
D2₫	DongVietnamese đồng	U+20AB ₫ VIETNAMESE DONG SIGN
D3	DramArmenian dram	U+058F ֏ ARMENIAN DRAM SIGN
EscEsc	EscudoCape Verdean escudo	Also the double-barred dollar sign (cifrão):
E€	EuroEuro	In addition to the members of the eurozone, the Vatican, San Marino, and Monaco have been granted issuing rights for coinage but not banknotes.
Fƒ	FlorinAruban florin (Afl.)[6] Netherlands Antillean guilder (NAƒ)
FtFt	ForintHungarian forint
FBuFBu	Franc BBurundian franc
FCFAFCFA	Franc CaCentral African CFA franc	Pegged 1:1 with West African CFA franc
CFACFA	Franc WaWest African CFA franc	Pegged 1:1 with Central African CFA franc
FrFr	Franc CoComorian (CF), Congolese (CF, FC), Djiboutian (Fdj/DF), Guinean (FG/GFr) and Swiss (SFr) francs	Also F. The character ₣, representing an F with a double bar, proposed as a symbol for the French Franc by Édouard Balladur in 1988 was never adopted, it is represented by a ligature Fr in some fonts.
FRwFRw	Franc RRwandan franc[7]	Possibly also RF[8] and RFr[9]
GG	GourdeHaitian gourde
grgr	groszPolish grosz	A centesimal division of the złoty
G/₲	GuaraniParaguayan guaraní	Or
hh	halerCzech haléř	A centesimal division of the koruna
He₴	HryvniaUkrainian hryvnia
K-₭	KipLao kip	Or ₭N
KcKč	KorunaCzech koruna
Krkr	KroneDanish (Dkr) and Norwegian krones Swedish krona Faroese and Icelandic (Íkr) króna	Faroese króna pegged 1:1 with Danish krone.
Knkn	KunaCroatian kuna
MKMK	Kwacha MMalawian kwacha
ZKZK	Kwacha ZZambian kwacha
KzKz	KwanzaAngolan kwanza
KK	KyatMyanma kyat Papua New Guinean kina
Las	LariGeorgian lari	Unicode: U+20BE ₾ GEORGIAN LARI SIGN (may display incorrectly)
LL	LekAlbanian lek Honduran lempira	Also used as the currency symbol for the Lesotho one-loti and the Swazi one-lilangeni note Also uncommonly used for the pound sign £
LeLe	LeoneSierra Leonean leone
Lvлв	LevBulgarian lev
EE	LilangeniSwazi lilangeni	Symbol based on the plural form "emalangeni". The one-lilageni note employs the currency symbol L
lplp	LipaCroatian lipa	A centesimal division of the kuna.
TL	LiraTurkish lira	Unicode: U+20BA ₺ TURKISH LIRA SIGN
M1M	LotiLesotho loti	Symbol based on plural form "maloti". The one-loti note employs the currency symbol L
M2	ManatAzerbaijani manat	Also m. and man. Unicode: U+20BC ₼ MANAT SIGN (may display incorrectly)
KMKM	MarkBosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark	Cyrillic form: КМ
MTMT	MeticalMozambican metical[10]	Also MTn
m/₥	millMill, mil, &.c	An uncommon millesimal subdivision of US dollars and other currencies. (See article.)
NfkNfk	NakfaEritrean nakfa	Also Nfa[11]
N₦	NairaNigerian naira
NuNu.	NgultrumBhutanese ngultrum
UMUM	OuguiyaMauritanian ouguiya[12]
PaT$	PaangaTongan paʻanga
MOPSMOP$	PatacaMacanese pataca	Also 圓 and 元
P2₱	PesoPhilippine peso	Also ₱, PHP, and P
ptPt.	piastreEgyptian piastre	A centesimal division of the Egyptian pound.
L-£	Pound BBritish, Falkland Islands (FK£), Gibraltar, Manx (M£), St. Helena	Also ₤ and L, all pegged 1:1 to GBP
GMج.م.	Pound EEgyptian pound	Latin: L.E. Rarely £E or E£
LLLL	Pound LLebanese pound
LSLS	Pound SSyrian pound
P1P	PulaBotswana pula
QQ	QuetzalGuatemalan quetzal
qq	qindarkeAlbanian qindarkë	A centesimal division of the lek.
R1R	RandSouth African rand	Also sometimes Russian &c. rubles
RSR$	RealBrazilian real	The $ is sometimes informally written with a double bar like a double-barred dollar sign:
Rial	Rial IIranian rial	Unicode: U+FDFC ﷼ RIAL SIGN
ROر.ع.	Rial OOmani rial
RKر.ق	Rial QQatari riyal	Latin: QR
RSر.س	Riyal SSaudi riyal	Latin: SR. Also: ریال
Riel៛	RielCambodian riel
RMRM	RinggitMalaysian ringgit
R2p	British &c. pennies	The penny is now a centesimal division of the pound.
	Ruble TPridnestrovie ruble
R3	Ruble RRussian ruble	Unicode: U+20BD ₽ RUBLE SIGN
RfRf.	RufiyaaMaldivian rufiyaa	Also MRf., MVR and .ރ
₹	Rupee IIndian rupee	Previously ₨ or Re (before 15 July 2010). Unicode: U+20B9 ₹ INDIAN RUPEE SIGN
Rs₨	Rupee PMauritian,[13] Nepalese[14] (N₨/रू.), Pakistani and Sri Lankan (SLRs/රු) rupees
SReSRe	Rupee SSeychellois rupee[15]	Also SR
RpRp	RupiahIndonesian rupiah
Sh₪	ShekelIsraeli new shekel
KshKsh	Shilling KKenyan shilling	Also KSh
ShsoSh.So.	Shilling SSomali shilling[16]
UshUSh	Shilling UUgandan shilling
SS/	SolPeruvian sol
SDRSDR	SpecialSpecial drawing rights
somсом	somKyrgyzstani som
Tk৳	TakaBangladeshi Taka	Also Tk
WSSWS$	TalaSamoan tālā	Symbol based on previous name "West Samoan tala". Also T and ST. See also $
T	TengeKazakhstani tenge	U+20B8 ₸ KAZAKHSTANI TENGE SIGN (may display incorrectly)
T//₮	TogrogMongolian tögrög
VtVT	VatuVanuatu vatu[17]
W₩	WonNorth Korean won South Korean won
Y¥	YuanJapanese yen (円/圓) Chinese Renminbi yuan (元/圆)	Used with one and two crossbars. 円 (en, lit. "circle") is frequently used in Japan colloquially. 元 is also used in reference to the Macanese pataca and Hong Kong and Taiwanese dollars. Unicode: U+00A5 ¥ YEN SIGN, U+FFE5 ￥ FULLWIDTH YEN SIGN
Zlzł	ZlotyPolish złoty

Rupee symbols

List of historic currency symbols

Symbol	Uses
₳	Argentine austral symbol
₢ Cr$	Brazilian cruzeiro symbol
₰	pfennig symbol of the German Mark (1875–1923) and the German Reichsmark (1923–1948)
DM	East German Deutsche Mark (east) symbol (1948–1964)
DM	West German and united German Deutsche Mark (west) symbol (1948–2001)
₯	Greek drachma symbol
₠	ECU symbol (not widely used, and now historical; replaced by the euro)
ƒ	Dutch gulden symbol, currently used in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba
Fr	franc symbol, used in France and other countries; in France an F with double bar (₣) was proposed in 1988 but never adopted
Kčs	Czechoslovak koruna symbol (1919–1993)
₤	lira symbol, formerly used in Italy, San Marino and Vatican City (although not as an official symbol), and sometimes in Malta
Lm	Maltese lira symbol
Ls	Latvian lats symbol (1922–2013)
Lt	Lithuanian litas symbol (1922–2014)
M	East German Mark der DDR symbol (1968–1990)
ℳ	German Mark symbol (1875–1923)
MDN	East German Mark der Deutschen Notenbank symbol (1964–1968)
mk	Finnish markka symbol (1860–2002)
PF	Philippine peso fuerte symbol (1852–1901)
₧	Spanish peseta symbol (1869–2002)
R or RD	Swedish riksdaler (1777–1873)
ℛℳ	German reichsmark symbol (1923–1948)
	Portuguese escudo symbol (cifrão)
Sk	Slovak koruna (1993–2008)
₷	Spesmilo (1907 – First World War) in the Esperanto movement
₶	Livre tournois symbol, used in medieval France
𐆖	Denarius used in Ancient Rome from 211 BC to the 3rd century AD
£2 10s 3d, £2 10/3, £2 10'3	The United Kingdom and British Commonwealth countries decimalisation used several recognised formats for amounts in pounds, shillings and Pence, all for the same amount. A hyphen or ASCII hyphen-minus was often used to indicate the absence of an amount e.g. 3/- or -/6

See also

• List of currencies
• List of circulating currencies
• Currency Symbols (Unicode block)

References