Nowadays, the currency symbols of various countries are used everywhere, and no one questions why the euro, for example, is symbolized as €. But the sign of a currency and its designation is an interesting topic, behind which many interesting facts are hidden.
Why does money need graphic symbols?
Few currencies in the world can present their own signs. The following money does not have special designations: Swiss francs, Croatian kunas, Latvian lats, etc. According to the world Unicode standard, currently only thirty world banknotes have officially recorded graphic symbols. Among them there are those who this moment are not used due to the introduction of the euro: this is the symbol of the French franc (₣).
It would seem, why write the euro currency sign in the form of symbols if you can write 100 euros, and not 100 €?
There are several factors according to which short designations for a particular currency are introduced into use:
- Such signs are very convenient, because as soon as they do not indicate the ruble: rub. or ruble. It looks unoriginal and is not always clear to foreigners.
- Having your own designation for a currency is prestigious. Such banknotes are automatically classified as strong and successfully developing.
When a state is able to develop, approve and include a currency sign in UNICODE, we can say that the country has increased its authority at the global level.
Signs of world currencies and the main requirements for them
When developing a designation for any country, designers adhere to the following requirements:
- The symbol must consist of one character. If the designation has 2 or more of them, it will cause both inconvenience when reading and difficulty in writing.
- It should be easily recognized by citizens of the country who use this currency. It would be great if foreigners could recognize it, because the symbol of any currency is unique.
- The designation should not depend on the font. The sign must be recognizable in any font system.
- All symbols have width restrictions: if we consider all currency symbols, they are no thicker than 0.
- The icon should not be overloaded with additional elements (wavy lines, etc.).
- The symbol must be unique, unlike any other.
When developing symbols, strict requirements are taken into account, so sometimes they contain similar elements: vertical or horizontal dashes, and possibly two. Such symbols denote stability, and this is the main thing that all currencies in the world strive for.
The history of the appearance of the Russian ruble symbol
The most famous symbols that represent a specific currency have their own history.
The well-known designation of the ruble (₽) is presented in the form of the letter P, which is crossed out by a horizontal line below. It denotes stability and distinguishes a currency sign from a letter of the alphabet.
During the times of the Russian Empire, the ruble was written differently: the capital letters “r” and “u” were combined. According to the most common version, the letter “r” was turned 90 degrees and the letter “y” was written on top of it. The sign turned out to be unique, but it turned out to be difficult to use, especially in writing.
Therefore, the designation did not take root, and the symbol had to be reinvented.
The process of developing the ruble symbol is interesting:
- The Central Bank of Russia held 2 competitions on this issue. The first was held in 2007, but all the proposals were not particularly original.
- The next competition was held in 2013, but no new version of the ruble symbol was invented.
Masters of type design were involved in the design process: Alexander Tarbeev and Vladimir Efimov.
The ruble (₽) currency symbol is now officially recognized, which was approved by the Central Bank of Russia. The designation is implemented in UNICODE.
Single currency symbol
The designation of the currency of the European Union (€) was approved after a sociological survey of citizens of the member countries of the commonwealth. This mark was officially introduced in 1996. The authors are considered to be four specialists, whose details have not been disclosed.
The logo was chosen very well. According to the commission that made the final decision, the sign demonstrates:
- The significance of European civilization, because it includes the Greek letter "epsilon".
- Stability, which is confirmed by two parallel horizontal lines.
- Identification with Europe (letter E).
The euro is considered one of the youngest monetary units planets. The world's currency symbols, such as the dollar, yuan and yen signs, have a longer history of development.
Where did the $ notation come from?
Many inhabitants of the planet are familiar with the designation in the form of the Latin letter S, which is crossed out by one (two) vertical lines, regardless of whether they are faced with the field of finance or not. The exact version of the appearance of this designation is unknown, but there are several versions of the origin of the sign:
- Presumably the $ sign has a lot in common with the spelling US. If we move U and S towards each other, we get the symbol for American currency.
- Another version is associated with Spain and its currency - the peso. 1 peso is equal to 8 reais; when writing this was done to save time - /8/. Over time, the inscription may have been simplified: only halves remained of the eights, and the oblique lines turned into one vertical line.
- The next version is also Spanish. To denote plural numbers, Ps was used, then all that was left of P was a line, and the letter S became full. Only this version has documentary evidence from 1778. In this message, a certain Olliver Polak first wrote Ps, and then corrected it to $.
- You should not refuse the version associated with the Roman theme. It was customary for the Romans to designate sestertius as LLS, then the spelling was shortened, and it became known as $. This option cannot be abandoned, because in the US Congress the upper house is called the Senate.
- The last version of the origin of $ is how printed sheets were designated. Previously, their number was designated sh, in this case s resembled the number 5 in writing. Then h was transformed into a line that was superimposed on S.
Currently, the most popular currencies in the world are represented by the US currency. But the sign of the American currency is known throughout the world, and it is not possible to establish exactly where it came from.
Ukrainian currency symbol
In Ukraine, they started thinking about introducing a designation for their national currency back in 2004. First, the National Bank of Ukraine held a corresponding competition for the currency sign, and in the end the best option was chosen.
Hryvnia is a rather ancient name for a monetary unit, but it did not have a separate designation. Finding a suitable option was not difficult. The Ukrainian currency sign is represented in the form of “₴”, where the main part of the symbol resembles the letter g, and two horizontal lines are added to it. The dashes, as in all other signs, symbolize stability.
Some historians were able to notice the coincidence of the currency designation with the Roman sextula. The symbol indicating 0.5 sextule is exactly like ₴, although it is pointless to look for Roman roots in this situation.
Japanese yen and Chinese yuan
The yen has been the currency of Japan since 1871. It is considered the main reserve currency of the world after American dollar and euro. This happened thanks to the stable developing economy Land of the Rising Sun.
The international designation is ¥, and in the country itself they use the hieroglyph on price tags. The official date of appearance of this sign is considered to be 1953, when the IMF, in order to help restore the Japanese economy, officially equated 1 yen to 2.5 grams of gold. Then the corresponding designation appeared.
In addition, the yen symbol is also used for the Chinese yuan. When written, the yuan should have one dash, but in practice this is not done.
English pound sign
The British pound, despite its decline associated with Brexit, is considered one of the most stable currencies peace. The sign is designated - £, which resembles the Latin letter L, supplemented by one or two horizontal lines in the middle.
The history of its origin is connected with Ancient Rome and its measurement system. The pound got its name from the phrase “liberal weight”. In the past, 1 pound of silver yielded 240 coins. Therefore, libral or true weight was used to determine the quality of coins or their degree of wear.
The designation of currencies in the form of symbols is not at all a mandatory procedure, because in the world there are many monetary units that use abbreviations. However, if a state has a separately designed symbol, then its currency is considered to be stable and reliable. Symbols have not only monetary units of countries with a rich historical past. There is a euro currency sign for the recently formed European Union.
The most common currencies used in different countries world, have a huge impact on processes in financial markets. Each monetary unit is indicated by a special symbol. This makes any of them recognizable and avoids confusion. Today, almost everyone can immediately distinguish such world currencies as the American dollar and sterling, the euro and the Japanese yen. Each of these symbols has its own history of origin and carries a certain meaning. This material proposes to consider the signs of the most popular world currencies.
U.S. dollar
Today, several versions of the origin of this currency sign are common. Some people are of the opinion that the “$” symbol came to the USA from Spain. At the time of the discovery of the American continent, the Spanish currency was the real. It was equal to 1/8 part english pound sterling. This ratio became the reason for the name of the real that stuck with the British - “peace of eight” (1/8). And, accordingly, the symbol of the real currency was chosen in the form of a vertically crossed out eight.
According to another version, the symbol “$” originates from the name of the US state. Thus, American patriots believe that the first two letters of the English name USA form a dollar sign. As evidence, an argument is given that this symbol was used as a postal stamp for government correspondence.
Another interesting version of how the “$” currency sign came about is another “Spanish” version. Thus, it is alleged that when gold was exported from the territory of the colonies on the American continent, the “S” stamp was placed on the cargo. It symbolized the recipient's country - Spain. After arriving at Spanish ports, a vertical line was added to the sign, and when the cargo was sent in the opposite direction, the symbol was marked with another additional line.
English pound
The British pound sterling currency sign “₤” is a combination of two symbols: the Latin letter L and two horizontal strokes. Sometimes a symbol with a single line (£) is used to denote this currency. It would be appropriate to say that a similar sign is used for other world currencies. For example, it is also used to denote the Turkish lira. The Latin word libra was used to define a measure of weight in Ancient Rome and later in England.
Monetary unit of the European Union
The European Union currency symbol “€” was chosen based on the results of a sociological survey, in which residents of the member countries of the commonwealth took part. The symbol was officially introduced at the end of 1996. It should be noted that the euro is a very young currency. The world's currency symbols, such as the dollar, pound sterling, yuan and yen symbols, have a much longer history. Officially, the euro began to be used at the beginning of 1999. The development of the sign was carried out by the European Commission, which chose a combination of two symbols: the Greek letter “epsilon” and two parallel strokes, symbolizing the stability of the new monetary unit.
Swiss frank
Just a few years ago in Europe there were a number of currencies called “franc”. However, today only the Swiss representative of this currency is used in circulation. The “Fr” sign itself is made up of a combination of two letters: an uppercase “F” and a lowercase “r”. The appearance of the franc currency in Europe dates back to the 14th century. Then they began to use it in France.
Japanese yen and Chinese yuan
The name "yuan" appeared during the reign of the Qin Dynasty in China. This is how silver coins were called in those days. Local hieroglyphs were used for designation. Nowadays, the international sign is a combination of the Latin letter “Y” and a horizontal line.
Russian ruble
The ruble is the official currency in Russian Federation. In addition, at one time money had the same name in the Russian principalities, the Russian Kingdom, the Russian Empire and the USSR. It should also be taken into account that the Republic of Belarus uses its own rubles.
The modern symbol of the Russian monetary unit consists of a capital letter “P” and one horizontal line crossing it out. Interesting fact is the fact that back in the 17th century, the ruble currency sign looked like a combination of two letters: “P” and “U”. The first of them was located at an angle of 90 degrees to the second counterclockwise. By the way, the very name “ruble” began to be used back in the 13th century.
31.03.2018
In everyday life "Ossie". (1 “aussie” = 100 cents). The Australian Aussie is the 6th most traded currency in the world. Since 1988, special thin plastic with a high degree of security has been used to produce banknotes.
World currency codes. Designation of world currencies
- World currency codes include three-digit numeric and alphabetic designations based on the global standard ISO 4217 (the first two letters are the designation of the state and one is the designation of the currency).
- Currency symbols are signs to uniquely designate a currency. Some of them originated in the 17th and 18th centuries. as a result of the evolution of writing (dollar $, pound £), others - in modern times(Euro €).
World currency codes. Designation (symbols) of world currencies.
Andorra, Montenegro and Kosovo unilaterally adopted the euro. The yen, or ya, is the currency of Japan. It is also widely used as a reserve currency behind the US dollar, euro and pound sterling. The romanized character is ¥, and in Japanese it is also written with the kanji 円.
Although there is no specific use of currency, a large number of Yen are often counted in thousands of thousands, just as currencies in the United States are often listed or rounded to the hundreds of thousands. A yen was legally defined as 78 ounces of pure silver or 1.5 grams of pure gold. The law also placed Japan on the gold standard, or gold regime.
Currency Letter code of currencies Numerical currency code Currency symbols Australian dollar AUD 036 AU$ Canadian dollar CAD 124 C$ Swiss frank CHF 756 Swedish krona SEK 752 kr New Zealand dollar NZD 554 NZ$ Japanese yen JPY 392 ¥ British pound GBP 826 £ U.S USD 840 $ Single European currency EUR 978 € Hong Kong dollar HKD 344 $ South Korean won KRW 410 ₩ Danish krone DKK 208 kr Norwegian krone NOK 578 kr Singapore dollar SGD 702 S$ South African rand ZAR 710 R Israeli shekel ILS 376 ₪
The designation of world currencies is used to simplify the appearance economic information. Each currency has its own three-digit code, where the first two letters indicate the country, and the last third letter is the name of the currency itself (dollar - D, franc - F, pound - P).
This procedure for three-digit designation of currencies is regulated by a special standard ISO 4217. The International Organization for Standardization in 1978 recommended that all countries use three-letter and three-digit currency codes.
Know currency symbols
When you start trading Forex, it would be wise to start with the seven major currencies. It is also wise to start with your country's currency if you live in one of the seven major countries, as you will be in a better position to judge the value of the currency. You should know that in the Forex market, currencies are usually expressed in a three-letter alphabet.
The symbols for the seven leading currencies are listed below. For getting additional information about the number and symbols of coins in the world. But what if, instead of depicting figures from the past, the illustrations and designs of banknotes reflect and promote modern values and people's achievements? The answer to this question can be found in Methodi Zheinov's variants.
Symbol of any currency:
The main purpose of this use of currency designations was aimed at international documentation in international agreements, in which it was more effective to use abbreviated names of currency codes to identify their names, since the names of some currencies are quite similar (US dollar, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, etc.).
Gender equality is one of the greatest achievements of Western civilization and the main asset of our modern culture. Every day we have money, but we look at those who silently look at securities? It turns out that national currencies are quite conservative, and the presence of a gentleman is more than occasional.
To avoid controversy, an alternative comes from Norway, which intends to print only five characters on five banknotes related to maritime themes - lighthouse, ship, fish, etc. Denmark has also adopted a monetary design that focuses on the story as a whole rather than on individual figures.
Of course, each country has adapted the ISO 4217 standard to suit its needs. For example, Russia has its own All-Russian classifier currencies Only the European Union uses the ISO 4217 standard directly.
The designation of currencies, according to the ISO 4217 standard, has been improved several times: digital codes, data on fractional monetary units has been entered.
There are calls in the US and Canada to feature at least one woman on banknotes. A similar campaign was also carried out in the UK, with successful completion after central bank country approved Jane Austen's imprint on the 10-pound note. But does a woman come into every country's currency?
Dollars are the faces of American founding fathers and former presidents, China's currency necessarily represents communist boss Mao, India has Mahatma Gandhi in circulation, but not a single banknote in these countries represents a woman.
In order to facilitate the use of the ISO 4217 standard, the designation of currencies was displayed in special tables - lists that indicate the name of the currency, the place of circulation of the currency, a three-letter alphabetic code, a three-digit alphabetic code, and decimal places for monetary units.
It is clear that some currencies go out of circulation, so they are marked in additions to the ISO 4217 standard with an explanation of the reasons for such changes, and the dates of entry and exit of information.
In the United States, the $20 bill campaign is run by a woman instead of seventh President Andrew Jackson, famous for forcing Indians into the West and his views on how then National Bank could work.
Preferred names include Rosa Parks, Margaret Sanger and Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery and one of the most prominent voices on American slavery. Our money tells the story of history and what our society represents. If we're talking about gender equality and social exclusion, then we need to change the currency, said activist Susan Stones.
All changes in currency designations are officially published on its website by a special agency - SIX Interbank Clearing in English and French.
The most interesting thing is that during the use of the designation of world currencies since 1978, practically all available currency signs were used, therefore, for new currencies, they came up with the idea of entering the letter N, from the English word - new.
When we open our wallets, we see the faces of four former premiers and Queen Elizabeth - a silent message that Canadian women are not valuable enough to be honored. Sexy banknotes are unacceptable in a country that wants to become a world leader in gender equality, says historian Merna Forster, who is also part of the campaign.
Sweden's central bank is dividing the banknotes equally, and the new crown design, due to be unveiled by the end of next year, will feature three men and three women - Greta Garbo, Astrid Lindgren and opera singer Brigitte Nielsen. Australia also has gender parity in its national currency, except that each note has a man on one side and a woman on the other.
Currency codes were needed to automate and unify the designation of currencies, so each country develops them independently, taking into account the ISO 4217 standard.
Letter designation of world currencies
| Currency name | Currency code | |
| Australian dollar | AUD | 036 |
| Austrian schilling | ATS | 040 |
| Belgian franc | BEF | 056 |
| British pound | GBP | 826 |
| Canadian dollar | CAD | 124 |
| Czech crown | CZK | 203 |
| Danish krone | DKK | 208 |
| Dutch guilder | NLG | 528 |
| Estonian kroon | EEK | 233 |
| Single European currency | EUR | 978 |
| Finnish brand | FIM | 246 |
| French franc | FRF | 250 |
| German mark | DEM | 276 |
| Greek drachma | GRD | 300 |
| Hong Kong dollar | HKD | 344 |
| Hungarian forint | HUF | 348 |
| Irish pound | IEP | 372 |
| Italian lira | ITL | 380 |
| Japanese yen | JPY | 392 |
| Latvian lats | LVL | 428 |
| Lithuanian litas | LTL | 440 |
| Mexican Peso | MXN | 484 |
| New Zealand dollar | NZD | 554 |
| Norwegian krone | NOK | 578 |
| Polish zloty | PLN | 985 |
| Portuguese escudo | RTE | 620 |
| Russian ruble | RUB | 643 |
| Singapore dollar | SGD | 702 |
| Slovak koruna | SKK | 703 |
| South African rand | ZAR | 710 |
| Spanish peseta | ESP | 724 |
| Swedish krona | SEK | 752 |
| Swiss frank | CHF | 756 |
| Ukrainian hryvnia | UAH | 980 |
| U.S | USD | 840 |
You probably noticed when you filled out payment order in your bank that you have columns of currency codes: for dollar - 840, euro - 978, Russian ruble– 643, Ukrainian hryvnia – 980.
The symbol of the Euro was proposed by the Belgian machinist Alain Billiet. Individual national notes and coins will expire. It's just old-fashioned, says American designer Massimo Vignilli. Montreal typographer Neil Kandalgaonkar shows on his page the difficulties associated with writing euros in regular manuscript. Residents were also violated European countries, such as the Netherlands and Switzerland, which are losing their extremely successful banknotes.
Billiet defends himself by offering a universal symbol that is not interchangeable or misinterpreted throughout the world. Although the euro is supported by version 5, it is placed in the position of an obscure emblem for an international currency, which is unfortunately found in Czech scripts. Therefore, you can put euros only from Roman, that is, without Czech characters.
Symbols of world currencies
In addition to currency signs and currency codes, there are also currency symbols $, £, ¥, €, which you very often see in Everyday life.
The history of the dollar symbol $ has a number of versions.
The first version says that in 1492, King Ferdinand II of Aragon from Spain adopted a symbol that looked like the Pillars of Hercules entwined with a ribbon as his currency.
The second version tells the origin of the dollar symbol in the period between 1573 – 1825. in Potosi, which at that time was the largest industrial center in the world, and was located in the territory of modern Bolivia. The fact is that the coins that were circulated in Potosi at that time are very similar to the modern dollar symbol.
The third version talks about the similarity of the modern dollar symbol with the sestertius currency from Ancient Rome. The sesterce was designated IIS.
And according to the fourth version, it is assumed that the $ symbol was obtained as a result of the abbreviation of the Spanish peso. That is, in a single expression, peso was abbreviated as ps. Later, ps was simplified to a single letter S, which was simply crossed out with the missing letter p, which is how the $ symbol came out.
With other currencies everything is simpler. The designation for the pound £ comes from the Latin word libra, which means scales. At that time, the value of the pound was equal to the pound of silver.
The designation of the euro currency - € arose as a result of a sociological survey of the population. That is, the people themselves chose what their national symbol should look like. The euro itself is a very young European currency, which was born in 1999. The symbol €, according to the European Commission, denotes two elements: the importance of Europe in the Greek letter Epsilon, and the stability of the currency in two parallel lines.
The symbol for the Japanese yen currency - ¥ - arose as a result of drawing two parallel lines on the Latin letter Y. The Japanese describe their currency with the hieroglyph 円.
Most countries in the world do not bother with any special invention when designating currencies, but simply use abbreviations of the first letters in the name of the country. Thus, in Poland zlotys are denoted as zł, and the former German Deutsche Mark is simply abbreviated as DM.
Some countries designate their currencies with a symbol that is related to the dollar. For example, Nicaraguan Cordoba looks like C$.
The designation of the shekel currency in Israel in Hebrew is deciphered as the first letters of the name of the currency - ₪.
The history of the designation of the Russian ruble indicates that the name ruble itself was first encountered in the 13th century and meant a pound of silver, which weighed one hryvnia and was cut into pieces. Over time, the symbol of the ruble has changed. In the XVII – 19th centuries the ruble was depicted by connecting two letters P and U. The modern symbol of the Russian ruble was approved only at the end of 2013 and denotes the letter P with a horizontal line intersecting the letter P - ₽ (but this symbol is not displayed correctly for everyone yet, since such a symbol appeared in Unicode tables quite recently).
Thus, we have dealt with the designations of the currencies of the world, examined the signs, codes and symbols of the main world currencies.
The Russian ruble has finally acquired an official graphic symbol - now the national currency will be denoted by a crossed out letter “R”. About why currencies need special graphic signs and why most symbols of the world's monetary units contain horizontal "dashes" - in the material on the site.
Why do currencies need graphic symbols?
Not every currency in the world can boast of its own sign. So, Latvian lats do without special characters, Swiss francs, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish crowns, Croatian kunas and many other currencies of the world. In total, according to the global Unicode standard (the standard for encoding characters and signs of written languages), at the moment only about thirty world currencies have officially registered graphic symbols. Among them there are also those that are no longer in use - for example, signs of the Italian lira (£), German mark (ℳ), and French franc (₣), which became obsolete after the introduction of the euro.
Meanwhile, it is hard not to admit that currencies that have their own graphic symbols are much more widespread than monetary units that do not have their own symbols. Thus, the dollar ($), pound (£), euro (€), and yen (¥) are undoubtedly not only the most popular, but also the strongest and most influential currencies in the world.
Approval of the ruble symbol
The introduction of the official symbol of the Russian ruble, according to the Bank of Russia, became the most important event in the country's economy. “Moscow lays claim to the status of an international financial center. An objective need has arisen to introduce a symbol of the national currency, recognized within the country and abroad,” said Elvira Nabiullina, Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia, on December 11, presenting the approved designation of the Russian currency.
The adoption of one sign as a designation of a monetary unit allows, in addition, to unify all variants of its previous spelling: thus, after the official approval of the ruble symbol, there will no longer be any doubt about how best to say about the ruble in writing - 100 rubles, 100 rubles. or 100 rub.
What do the symbols of different world currencies have in common?
Some of the graphic images of monetary units developed naturally, as a result of various historical events, and some were formed during the development of many options, as well as popular votes. So any special requirements it cannot be submitted to the creation of a symbol of a particular currency. However, the graphic image must be convenient and easy to write, otherwise it will be useless - after all, currency signs are introduced in order to become recognizable and replace the full names of currencies in writing.
Dollar, euro, pound, Japanese yen, Vietnamese dong, Israeli new shekel
Graphic symbols of almost all currencies in the world have horizontal “dashes” in their structure. This is not only the British pound sterling (£), euro (€), Ukrainian hryvnia(₴), Japanese yen (¥), Kazakh tenge (₸) and, finally, the official symbol of the Russian ruble. Thus, the symbols of the Indian rupee (₹), south korean won(₩) and many other currencies of the world are also written using one or more horizontal stripes.
Such stripes on signs are a generally recognized symbol of the stability of the currency in whose writing they are present. That is why, as the representatives themselves stated Central Bank Russia, the line is also used in the ruble symbol.
From Russia with love
The approved symbol of the Russian ruble, which is a crossed out “R”, is not the first sign of the national currency, but it is the only one officially recognized. It should be added, however, that for a long time it was the most popular of the unofficial designations of the Russian currency.
During times Russian Empire There was another way to write the ruble: it was to combine the capital letters “r” and “u”. According to the most common version, the "p" was turned 90 degrees counterclockwise, and then the "y" was written on top of the letter. This designation of the ruble was indicated not after the numbers, as today, but above them. However, despite the attempts of some publishers, this ruble sign was not widely used in print.
Now the graphic symbol of the ruble has become - and is already completely legal - the crossed out letter "R". This sign was approved by the Central Bank of Russia on December 11. The selected symbol was recognized as the most popular based on the results of a vote that the Central Bank conducted on its website. A one-ruble coin with a new graphic symbol of the national currency will appear in circulation in 2014.
Approved symbol of the ruble. Photo: cbr.ru
In early November, the Central Bank submitted the graphic symbol of the ruble for public discussion. The finalist signs have been selected working group Bank of Russia from more than three thousand options. The crossed out “P” was supported by more than 61% of respondents during the voting.
Crossed out letters and more
Since horizontal stripes are a fairly popular "attribute" currency symbols, it is not surprising that there are already a number of monetary units in the world, the signs of which are very similar to the new designation of the ruble. Thus, most countries in which pesos are used to pay use the American dollar sign ($) or a similar one, only with two transverse stripes, to designate their currencies. But in the Philippines, the peso, meanwhile, is denoted by a different symbol - ₱, which is similar to the new designation of the Russian ruble.
Symbols of various currencies of the world: including the American dollar, Korean won, Netherlands Antilles guilder
The Nigerian naira is also crossed out - however, already with two stripes (₦). In addition, the Ukrainian hryvnia (₴) and the Laotian kip (₭) have similar designations - in the form of crossed out letters.
In the graphic designs of some national currencies horizontal lines are present in a different way. Thus, the new Israeli shekel looks more like a beautiful rectangular pattern (₪), that of the country of Bangladesh - like a solid sign from the Russian alphabet (৳), and the guilder of the Netherlands Antilles - like a mathematical notation for a function (ƒ).
Where did the most famous currency symbols come from?
Today there is no single view on the origin of the $ sign, but it is quite possible that with its characteristic outline American currency obliged to the residents of Foggy Albion. The fact is that the English king George III at one time ordered the use of Spanish reals, which cost 1/8 of the English pound sterling, in circulation. This money was called "piece of eight", which eventually became the abbreviated "peso". Soon they began to be used to pay with them in the North American colonies of England, where they also began to be called dollars.
The crossed out eight was wisely chosen as the written symbol for "piece of eight". However, soon this spelling turned out to be too long and inconvenient, as a result of which the symbol turned into a “truncated” eight - $.
According to the theory of American Patriots, $, however, originated differently: becoming a simplified combination of the letters "U" and "S" (the first letters of the name of the United States - US), superimposed on each other. Another version of the appearance of the American dollar symbol says that the “progenitors” of the $ sign were the Spaniards, who wrote down the peso currency by combining the letters “P” and “S”.
The Roots of Fancy Writing British pound sterling are hidden in the Latin letter "L", supplemented horizontally with a line (or two lines) in the middle. “L” itself comes from the Latin word libra (libra, pound), which denoted the main measure of weight in Ancient Rome and England.
The pound - £ or ₤ - is used not only in the UK, but also in some other countries around the world.
The euro, as a young currency, received its sign as a result of an analysis of the public opinion of Europeans. It is believed that the authors of € were four experts, whose names for some reason it was decided not to disclose.
According to the European Commission, the graphic image of the euro carries the significance of European civilization (symbolized by the Greek letter “epsilon”), identity with Europe itself (the letter “E”) and stability (parallel lines crossing the letter).
From $ to €
The first use of a symbol of any (some) currency dates back to 1972. It may be necessary if, for example, in a computer font the sign required currency not available.
Designation of any currency
The sign of some currency is a circle from which, like the sun, four rays extend at an angle of 90 degrees relative to each other.
Anna Teplitskaya