Cent (currency)

Last updated
A United States one-cent coin, also known as a penny. US One Cent Obv.png
A United States one-cent coin, also known as a penny.

The cent is a monetary unit of many national currencies that equals 1100 of the basic monetary unit.

Contents

Etymologically, the word cent derives from the Latin centum meaning 'hundred'.

The cent sign is commonly a simple minuscule (lower case) letter c. In North America, the c is crossed by a diagonal or vertical stroke (depending on typeface), yielding the character ¢.

The United States one cent coin is generally known by the nickname "penny", alluding to the British coin and unit of that name. Australia ended production of their 1¢ coin in 1992, as did Canada in 2012. Some Eurozone countries ended production of the 1 euro cent coin, most recently Slovakia in 2022. [1]

Symbol

¢ c
Cent (currency)
In  Unicode U+00A2¢CENT SIGN (¢)
U+0063cLATIN SMALL LETTER C
Currency
Currencyvarious
Related
See alsoU+FFE0FULLWIDTH CENT SIGN
Symbol category class.svg Category

The cent may be represented by the cent sign, written in various ways according to the national convention and font choice. Most commonly seen forms are a minuscule letter c crossed by a diagonal stroke, a vertical line, a simple c, depending on the currency (see below ). Cent amounts from 1 to 99 can be represented as one or two digits followed by the appropriate abbreviation (2¢, 5c, 75¢, 99c), or as a subdivision of the base unit ($0.75, €0.99). In some countries, longer abbreviations like "ct." are used. Languages that use other alphabets have their own abbreviations and conventions.

The cent symbol has largely fallen into disuse since the mid-20th century as inflation has resulted in very few things being priced in cents in any currency. It was included on US typewriter keyboards, but has not been adopted on computers. [2]

North American cent sign

The cent sign appeared as the shift of the 6 keys on American manual typewriters, but the freestanding circumflex on computer keyboards has taken over that position. The character (offset 162) can still be created in most common code pages, including Unicode and Windows-1252:

Orthography

When written in English and Mexican Spanish, the cent sign (¢ or c) follows the amount (with no space between)for example, 2¢ and $0.02, or 2c and €0.02. Conventions in other languages may vary.

Usage

East India Company half cent (1845).
Half cents (1845).jpg
Obverse: Crowned head left with lettering Queen Victoria Reverse: Face value, year and "East India Company" inscribed inside wreath.
18,737,498 coins minted in 1845.

Minor currency units called cent or similar names

Examples of currencies around the world featuring centesimal (1100) units called cent, or related words from the same root such as céntimo , centésimo , centavo or sen, are:

Minor currency units with other names

Examples of currencies featuring centesimal (1100) units not called cent

Major unitDivided into
Bhutanese ngultrum 100 chhertum
Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark 100 pfeniga
Botswanan pula 100 thebe
British pound 100 pence (singular: penny) since Decimal Day, 1971
Bulgarian lev 100 stotinki
Cyrillic: стотинки
("hundredths")
Chinese yuan 100 fēn (分); in general usage, divided into 10 jiǎo (角).
Croatian kuna 100 lipa
Danish krone 100 øre
Egyptian pound 100 piastres
Estonian mark 100 penni (singular: penn)
Gambian dalasi 100 bututs
Ghanaian cedi 100 pesewas
Indian rupee 100 paise
Israeli new shekel 100 agorot
Macau pataca 100 avos; circulating coins are 10, 20, and 50 avos.
Macedonian denar 100 deni
Malawian kwacha 100 tambala
Mongolian tögrög 100 möngö
Nepalese rupee 100 paisa
Pakistani rupee 100 paise
Papua New Guinean kina 100 toea
Polish złoty 100 groszy (singular: grosz)
Qatari riyal 100 dirhams
Romanian and Moldovan leu 100 bani
Russian ruble 100 kopeks
Saudi riyal 100 halalas
Serbian dinar 100 paras
Swedish krona 100 öre
Swiss franc German: 100 Rappen
French: 100 centimes
Italian: 100 centesimi
Romansch: 100 raps
Thai baht 100 satang
Turkish lira 100 kuruş
United Arab Emirates dirham 100 fils
Ukrainian hryvnia 100 kopiykas
Zambian kwacha 100 ngwee

Obsolete centesimal currency units

Examples of currencies which formerly featured centesimal (1100) units but now have no fractional denomination in circulation:

Major unitFormerly divided into
Costa Rican colón (until the 1980s) 100 céntimos
Czech koruna 100 haléřů
Hungarian forint (until 1999) 100 fillér
Icelandic króna 100 eyrir (singular aurar)
Japanese yen 100 sen
Norwegian krone 100 øre
South Korean won 100 jeon
Swedish krona (until 2010) 100 öre
Ugandan shilling (until 2013) 100 cents.

Examples of currencies which use the cent symbol for other purposes:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centime</span>

Centime is French for "cent", and is used in English as the name of the fraction currency in several Francophone countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish peseta</span> Currency of Spain from 1868 to 2002

The peseta was the currency of Spain between 1868 and 2002. Along with the French franc, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra.

Decimalisation or decimalization is the conversion of a system of currency or of weights and measures to units related by powers of 10.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine peso</span> Currency of the Philippines

The Philippine peso, also referred to by its Filipino name piso, is the official currency of the Philippines. It is subdivided into 100 sentimo, also called centavos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piastre</span> Unit of currency

The piastre or piaster is any of a number of units of currency. The term originates from the Italian for "thin metal plate". The name was applied to Spanish and Hispanic American pieces of eight, or pesos, by Venetian traders in the Levant in the 16th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethiopian birr</span> Currency of Ethiopia

The birr is the primary unit of currency in Ethiopia. It is subdivided into 100 santims.

The centavo is a fractional monetary unit that represents one hundredth of a basic monetary unit in many countries around the world. The term comes from Latin centum, with the added suffix -avo ('portion').

Several linguistic issues have arisen in relation to the spelling of the words euro and cent in the many languages of the member states of the European Union, as well as in relation to grammar and the formation of plurals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coins of the Philippine peso</span>

Philippine peso coins are issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for circulation in the Philippines and are currently available in seven denominations. The Philippine peso has been in use since Spanish rule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominican peso</span> Currency of the Dominican Republic

Peso dominicano has been the name of the currency of the Dominican Republic since 2010. Its symbol is "$", with "RD$" used when distinction from other pesos is required; its ISO 4217 code is "DOP". Each peso is divided into 100 centavos ("cents"), for which the ¢ symbol is used. With exception of the United States dollar, it is the only currency that is legal tender in the Dominican Republic for all monetary transactions, whether public or private.

The colón is the currency of Costa Rica. It was named after Christopher Columbus, known as Cristóbal Colón in Spanish. A colón is divided into one hundred céntimos.

The colón was the currency of El Salvador from 1892 until 2001, when it was replaced by the U.S. dollar during the presidency of Francisco Flores. The colón was subdivided into 100 centavos and its ISO 4217 code was SVC. The plural is "colones" in Spanish and the currency was named after Christopher Columbus, known as Cristóbal Colón in Spanish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dollar sign</span> Monetary symbol used in many national currencies

The dollar sign, also known as peso sign, is a currency symbol consisting of a capital ⟨S⟩ crossed with one or two vertical strokes, used to indicate the unit of various currencies around the world, including most currencies denominated "peso" and "dollar". The explicitly double-barred sign is called cifrão in the Portuguese language.

Each "article" in this category is a collection of entries about several stamp issuers, presented in alphabetical order. The entries are formulated on the micro model and so provide summary information about all known issuers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centesimo</span>

Centesimo is a currency unit equivalent to cent, derived from the Latin centesimus meaning "hundredth". In Italy it was the 1100 division of the Italian lira.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venezuelan venezolano</span> Former currency of Venezuela

The venezolano was the currency of Venezuela between 1872 and 1879. It was divided into 100 centavos, although the names céntimo and centésimo were also used. Venezolano was also the name of two currencies planned in 1854 and 1865.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Céntimo</span>

The céntimo or cêntimo was a currency unit of Spain, Portugal and their former colonies. The word derived from the Latin centimus meaning "hundredth part". The main Spanish currency, before the euro, was the peseta which was divided into 100 céntimos. In Portugal it was the real and later the escudo, until it was also replaced by the euro. In the European community cent is the official name for one hundredth of a euro. However, both céntimo and cêntimo are commonly used to describe the euro cent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese invasion money</span> Currency issued by the Japanese Military Authority

Japanese invasion money, officially known as Southern Development Bank Notes, was currency issued by the Japanese Military Authority, as a replacement for local currency after the conquest of colonies and other states in World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Currency of Venezuela</span>

The currency of Venezuela has been in circulation since the end of the 18th century. The present currency unit in Venezuela is the Venezuelan bolívar.

References

  1. "Po 1. júli 2022 budú končiť na Slovensku jedno a dvojcentové mince". www.bystricoviny.sk (in Slovak). 29 May 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  2. Anderson, Charlie (13 November 2003). "The Demise of the ¢ Sign". charlieanderson.com. Archived from the original on 22 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.